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Ukraine President Says Truce Is Growing Stronger Ukraine President Says Truce Is Growing Stronger
(about 2 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — A week into a cease-fire between pro-Russia separatists and government forces in the east of Ukraine, President Petro O. Poroshenko said Friday that the pact appeared to be growing stronger by the day, in remarks that conspicuously avoided direct criticism of Moscow. KIEV, Ukraine — A week into a cease-fire between pro-Russia separatists and government forces in the east of Ukraine, President Petro O. Poroshenko said on Friday that the pact appeared to be growing stronger by the day, in remarks that conspicuously avoided direct criticism of Moscow.
Mr. Poroshenko, who has been trying to generate a sense of momentum for a lasting truce in the rebellious eastern region, repeatedly emphasized that his government wanted a peaceful settlement to the crisis, even as both the European Union and the United States enacted new sanctions to punish Russia for its role.Mr. Poroshenko, who has been trying to generate a sense of momentum for a lasting truce in the rebellious eastern region, repeatedly emphasized that his government wanted a peaceful settlement to the crisis, even as both the European Union and the United States enacted new sanctions to punish Russia for its role.
In the most detailed statement he has made publicly about Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in March, Mr. Poroshenko also said that taking back the region by force was impossible. Instead, he said, Ukraine should seek to achieve that result by convincing Crimeans that they would be better off as part of Ukraine than of Russia. The president and other senior officials, addressing a forum about the crisis, emphasized the arduous work ahead to make the peace stick.
“I am confident that we will win a liberal, democratic competition for the minds of the Crimean people, " Mr. Poroshenko said. “The next stage will be a very difficult road,” said Valeriy Chaly, one of the president’s leading advisers on foreign policy. Both the president and Mr. Chaly noted that the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany were scheduled to hold a group telephone call on Saturday about how to strengthen the truce. The four first gathered in Normandy this year during World War II commemorations.
Former President Leonid D. Kuchma, who is negotiating for Ukraine in talks in Minsk, Belarus, said that all the outstanding issues in the 12-point protocol that brought the cease-fire needed to be negotiated in great detail, taking into account Russia’s viewpoint. Each point of the protocol needs an action plan, he said.
Ukrainian officials said that the crisis in southeastern Ukraine was the main priority, and that the issue of Crimea, which started the crisis, would have to wait for another day. They said that the first step should be the withdrawal of all Russian troops from the southeast, followed by the closing of the border and the release of all detainees.
In talking about Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in March, Mr. Poroshenko laid out in more specific detail than he had previously in public how Ukraine could get it back. Retaking the region by force is impossible, he said, but soft power tactics will work. Ukraine should seek to convince Crimeans that they would be better off as part of Ukraine than of Russia by building a freer, richer country, he said.
“I am confident that we will win a liberal, democratic competition for the minds of the Crimean people,” Mr. Poroshenko said.
He was speaking at the 11th Yalta European Strategy conference, an annual gathering of politicians, economists, diplomats, academics and others from around the world.He was speaking at the 11th Yalta European Strategy conference, an annual gathering of politicians, economists, diplomats, academics and others from around the world.
The forum, organized by the billionaire industrialist Viktor M. Pinchuk, has been held for the past decade at Livadia, the last czar’s seaside palace in Yalta, on the Crimean Peninsula. This year it was held in downtown Kiev, with the annexation mentioned repeatedly as a threat to the future of Europe. The forum, organized by the billionaire industrialist Viktor M. Pinchuk, had been held for the past decade at Livadia, the last czar’s seaside palace in Yalta, on the Crimean Peninsula. This year it was held in downtown Kiev, with the annexation mentioned repeatedly as a threat to the future of Europe.
In a new sign of the deprivations wrought by fighting in eastern Ukraine, the World Food Program announced Friday that it had begun feeding people there, with emergency rations distributed to transit centers and public shelters in Donetsk and Luhansk.In a new sign of the deprivations wrought by fighting in eastern Ukraine, the World Food Program announced Friday that it had begun feeding people there, with emergency rations distributed to transit centers and public shelters in Donetsk and Luhansk.
It is the first time that the program, known more for aid to the hungry in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, is providing food for Ukrainians, whose country was known in Soviet times as a breadbasket for its agricultural abundance. It is the first time that the program, known more for aid to the hungry in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, has provided food for Ukrainians, whose country was known in Soviet times as a breadbasket for its agricultural abundance.
In a statement, the program, a part of the United Nations, said it had begun distributing thousands of food boxes containing ready-to-eat canned meat, fish and vegetables, as well as biscuits, jam and tea.In a statement, the program, a part of the United Nations, said it had begun distributing thousands of food boxes containing ready-to-eat canned meat, fish and vegetables, as well as biscuits, jam and tea.
“The fighting in the last few months, primarily in the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk and surrounding areas, has significantly disrupted access to food and basic services,” said Carlo Scaramella, the program’s deputy regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and East Europe.“The fighting in the last few months, primarily in the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk and surrounding areas, has significantly disrupted access to food and basic services,” said Carlo Scaramella, the program’s deputy regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and East Europe.