Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the end of his government’s unilateral ceasefire in its battle with pro-Russia separatists on Monday. The announcement came shortly after the shaky 10-day stoppage to the conflict expired, and Poroshenko is “sending military forces back on the offensive after talks with Russia and European leaders failed to start a broader peace process,” according to the Associated Press. “A grave Poroshenko made a televised address early Tuesday vowing that ‘we will attack, and we will free our country,’” the AP reports. Shelling has already begun again in eastern Ukraine according to Russian news agencies.
“Poroshenko said the chance for peace was lost because of the ‘criminal activities’ of pro-Russian militants,” the BBC reports. “Shortly after a four-way phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German and French leaders, Poroshenko blamed the rebels for failing to keep to the truce or follow a peace plan he had outlined,” Reuters reports.
“Disarmament and decentralization, the free use of the Russian language, the rebuilding of lost housing at the expense of the state and a joint program with the European Union for the creation of new jobs, and even the ceasefire – all these issues we’re ready to return to at any moment when we see that all parties start to observe the implementation of the major clauses of the peace plan,” Russian news agency Interfax reported Poroshenko saying during his address.
