KIEV, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Billionaire Petro Poroshenko, who leads Ukraine’s presidential race, said Monday he was ready to sit down at the negotiating table with all people of the turbulent Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but added illegal armed forces must give up their weapons.
“I’m ready and I’m determined to hold a dialogue with all residents of Donbass, regardless of their political stance,” he said referring to a large industrial cluster in Ukraine’s southeast that includes the restive Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Poroshenko reiterated that federalists not involved in violent crimes would be amnestied if they laid down their arms, adding that all illegal armed groups must end the bloodshed.
“Weapons should be removed from all Ukrainian streets, from all Ukrainian cities and all towns. This concerns not only Kramatorsk, Slaviansk, Horlivka, Makeyevka and other captured cities. This concerns Kiev and this concerns other regions as well,” he said.
At the same time, he expressed his support for a special operation in eastern Ukraine, which had already left scores of civilians dead.
Southeastern Ukraine has been swept by rallies since early spring. Federalization supporters in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Gorlovka, Slaviansk and Kramatorsk refused to recognize the legitimacy of the current Ukrainian government and urged interim authorities to hold referendums similar to the one held in Crimea last month, which led to the republic’s reunification with Russia.
In response, Ukrainian authorities launched a special operation to crack down on the protests.
Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union met in Geneva in April where they agreed on a set of measures to de-escalate the tensions. Mediators called on the warring parties to disband illegally armed groups, surrender all occupied government buildings and remove protesters from streets and squares.
They also urged the Kiev regime to pardon demonstrators that had not committed capital crimes. Kiev initially backed the Geneva communique, but later failed to follow through on the agreement.
