Poroshenko urged Ukraine to prepare for peace and war

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said before leaving for Minsk for the Normandy Four summit that he allows for two directly opposite scenarios for the development of events in the east of the country - both the establishment of peace and the escalation of hostilities.

“We are for peace. If we need to be kicked in the teeth, we will be punched in the teeth, we need to defend our land – we will do this to the last,” Poroshenko said at a government meeting in Kyiv.

“I think that, unfortunately, we need to be prepared for both options – for peace […] and to defend the country,” the Ukrainian president added.

On Wednesday afternoon, the presidents of Ukraine, Russia and France and the German Chancellor arrived at the summit on the Ukrainian crisis. Vladimir Putin flew to Minsk last.

"Only a ray of hope"

Representatives of all the leaders participating in the Minsk summit made it clear that it was impossible to predict the outcome of the negotiations.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the Minsk summit “provides only a ray of hope, nothing more” and that its outcome is still completely uncertain. “But despite all the uncertainty, it is worth making an attempt to alleviate the suffering of people in eastern Ukraine,” he emphasized.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “noticeable progress” had been made in preparatory meetings for the summit. However, Lavrov expressed doubts about the feasibility of one of Kyiv’s demands – the restoration of control over the Russian-Ukrainian border.

“In those areas controlled by the militia, it is necessary to negotiate with the [self-proclaimed] DPR and LPR,” Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow, adding that the separatists are unlikely to agree to this.

President Poroshenko, in turn, declared that the proposal to federalize Ukraine was unacceptable, which was repeatedly mentioned by the Russian authorities, including President Putin.

“Ukraine was, is and will be a unitary state. This fully corresponds to the attitude of the Ukrainian people,” Poroshenko announced at a government meeting. “They are annoyingly trying to export ideas of federalization to us from a neighboring state […] Federalization is seeds that will not take root on Ukrainian soil.”

Ready for martial law

The Ukrainian president also warned that Kiev is ready for the introduction of martial law in the country in the event of an escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

“Both I, the government, and the Verkhovna Rada are ready to make a decision to introduce martial law throughout Ukraine. And under no circumstances will I delay this decision if the irresponsible actions of the aggressor lead to a serious further escalation of the conflict. I am confident that our country will be able to defend itself,” Poroshenko said.

Ukrainian authorities and Western countries accuse Russia of supporting separatists in the east of Ukraine and of direct participation in the conflict in the Donbas, Moscow denies these accusations.

On Wednesday morning, Petro Poroshenko visited Kramatorsk, where on the eve at least eight people were killed in the shelling of long-range artillery.

He accused the separatists of using cluster munitions during the shelling of Kramatorsk and said that he would discuss it at negotiations with Vladimir Putin, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel in Minsk, writes BBC News.