President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has announced that this year the main guideline for the country should be 'peace and development'.

"For four years now, we have combined offensive reforms with defense efforts to protect the country from the Russian aggression. There's no third option. So, let the words 'peace and development' unite into the main guideline for 2018," the head of state wrote in his column for the Novoye Vremia newspaper and The Economist World published on Saturday.

Poroshenko noted that Ukraine doesn't need an internal struggle of all against all, but requires the consolidation of the efforts of the authorities, civil society, and international partners. "And this is the only possible way for a successful Ukraine," he said.

The president stressed that the enemy continues to destabilize the situation inside the country. "We are rebuffing these attempts. The opponents of the authorities have already entered the active phase of the election campaign, some are even not above taking money from Moscow," he said.