Poroshenko on actions in Donbas: An army must be ready for any scenario

13:47, 20.09.2018 1 min read

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has denied that Kyiv is preparing to use force to liberate the areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are not under its control, but insisted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces must be prepared for any scenario.

"The Kremlin is trying to persuade our allies that Ukraine is preparing a scenario to liberate Donbas using force. Of course we should have such an option, as an army must be prepared for any scenario: Ukraine has the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. And we declared this explicitly in the Donbas reintegration legislation that was adopted recently," Poroshenko said on Thursday during his annual address to the Verkhovna Rada on Ukraine's domestic and foreign policy.

The Ukrainian peace strategy is focused on achieving peace in a political-diplomatic way, Poroshenko said. "It is this option that's optimal for Ukraine and meets our national interests," he said.