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Poroshenko Sworn In as President of Strife-Torn Ukraine Poroshenko Takes Ukraine Helm With Tough Words for Russia
(about 7 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko, a pro-European, billionaire confectioner, was sworn in as the fifth president of Ukraine on Saturday. KIEV, Ukraine — Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko, a pro-European, billionaire confectioner, was sworn in on Saturday as the fifth president of Ukraine, promising to put an end to a separatist insurrection in the east that has divided the country for months. He also expressed new resolve, saying Ukraine would never accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a point that he made in a face-to-face meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin on Friday.
Mr. Poroshenko was installed in a solemn ceremony at the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev after months of civil unrest that forced out the former president Viktor F. Yanukovych, and amid an ongoing violent separatist insurrection in eastern Ukraine that has effectively engulfed the country in civil war. In a forceful inaugural address, Mr. Poroshenko called on rebel fighters in eastern Ukraine to put down their weapons and he promised safe passage for “Russian mercenaries” who wish to return home. But he said there would be no negotiations with armed insurgents, raising the prospect of further bloodshed as the military seeks to quash the rebellion.
Mr. Poroshenko began his speech by recognizing the so-called Heavenly Hundred demonstrators killed in clashes with the police in Kiev. While the United States and its Western allies expressed new hope of a diplomatic resolution after meetings with Mr. Putin at a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day in France, Russia’s intentions in Ukraine remain unclear and there have been mixed signals about the consensus among Western nations over further sanctions should diplomatic efforts fail.
“Some might say we got our independence without any effort,” Mr. Poroshenko told an audience that included Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. “That isn’t true.” Mr. Poroshenko, after being installed in a mostly solemn ceremony at the Ukrainian Parliament, said he hoped to mend relations with Russian, noting, “Citizens of Ukraine will never enjoy the beauty of peace unless we settle down our relations with Russia.”
After calling for a moment of silence he turned his attention to the pro-Russian violence in the east, and switched to speaking Russian from Ukrainian. At the same time, however, he voiced no willingness to tolerate recent Russian aggression and the annexation of Crimea, which Mr. Putin has described as the righting of a historical accident that separated the peninsula from its Russian roots.
He promised amnesty for fighters who put down their weapons, and safe passage for Russian insurgents who wish to go home. “Russia occupied Crimea, which was, is and will be Ukrainian soil,” Mr. Poroshenko told an audience that included Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other international dignitaries. “Yesterday in the course of the meeting in Normandy, I told this to President Putin: Crimea is Ukraine soil. Period. There can be no compromise on the issues of Crimea, European choice and state structure.”
To the peaceful citizens of eastern Ukraine, he said he would welcome dialogue. Mr. Poroshenko also said that he would move swiftly to sign political and economic agreements with the European Union that Ukraine’s former government, under heavy Russian pressure, d backed away from in November, setting off the civil unrest in Ukraine. “My pen is in my hands,” he said, adding later, “European democracy for me is the best form of government invented by mankind.”
“I will come to you with a plan of peace,” he said. In a sign of outreach, Russia returned its ambassador, Mikhail Y. Zurabov, to Kiev to attend the inaugural festivities. Mr. Zurabov had been recalled to Russia after Mr. Yanukovych’s ouster.
Mr. Poroshenko, who spoke briefly in France on Friday with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, also addressed the invasion and annexation of Crimea by Russia. And a day after President Obama demanded that Russia stop the flow of weapons and fighters into Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported that Mr. Putin had ordered tighter controls on the border to prevent people from crossing illegally.
“Crimea has always been and will always remain Ukrainian,” he said. He noted that he had told Mr. Putin as much in Normandy. Still, violence continued to flare in the east. An assassination attempt on Denis Pushilin, a pro-Russian, separatist leader in Donetsk, on Saturday resulted in the shooting death of an assistant, Maksym Petruhin. Photos carried by Ukrainian news sites showed Mr. Petruhin, wearing a business suit, lying face down on a street alongside a parked car with at least seven bullet holes in the rear door panel.
Mr. Poroshenko, 48, won the presidency in a landslide on May 25, in a special election that was called after months of civil unrest that toppled the former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, who fled to Russia.
For many years, he served in the Parliament. He was foreign minister under President Viktor A. Yushchenko and trade and economics minister under Mr. Yanukovych.
He earned his fortune making chocolate, and Russia is a major market for his company, Roshen, which has factories and other facilities there. His deep business ties in Russia and his long experience in Ukrainian politics had led to some hope that he could negotiate successfully with the Kremlin.
In his inaugural speech, however, he was resolute against Russian intervention. “The issue of territorial integrity of Ukraine is not subject to discussion,” he said. “I have just sworn ‘with all my deeds to protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine’ and I will always be faithful to this sacred promise.”
The inauguration ceremony was imbued with ritual. Mr. Poroshenko swore the oath of office, with his hand on the 16th century Peresopnytsia Gospel. He was presented with a bejeweled presidential necklace, which framed his tie of sky blue and yellow, Ukraine’s national colors. He was also given the bulava, a scepter that is a historic symbol of power.
Mr. Poroshenko opened his speech by recognizing the so-called Heavenly Hundred demonstrators who were killed in clashes with the police in Kiev in the days before Mr. Yanukovych was forced from power.
“Many people thought that we got independence without any difficulty,” he said. “It is not true.”
After calling for a moment of silence he turned his attention to the pro-Russian violence in the east, and switched from speaking Ukrainian to Russian.
He promised amnesty for fighters who put down their weapons and safe passage for Russian insurgents who wish to go home. To the peaceful citizens of eastern Ukraine, he said he would welcome dialogue.
He offered conciliatory actions, promising he would come to eastern Ukraine “with peace, with a project of government decentralization, with a guarantee of free usage of Russian language in your region, with the strong intention not to divide people into right and wrong Ukrainians, with respect for the specifics of regions, for the right of local communities to their peculiarities in the issues of historic memory, pantheon of heroes, religious traditions.”
Mr. Poroshenko also promised a jobs program and to fight the corruption that has plagued Ukraine throughout its post-Soviet history. He said he would push for parliamentary elections later this year, aiming to meet a demand of demonstrators, many still camping out in the center of Kiev, who say that changing presidents was not sufficient.
He also acknowledged that the uprising had deeply altered the country. “The victorious revolution of dignity not only changed the government,” he said. “The country has changed. People have changed.”