Poroshenko: War in Donbass may resume at any moment

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko opened the international conference in support of Ukraine in Kiev today, on April 28. Addressing those present, the president said war in Donbass may resume “at any moment” and the Minsk Agreements must be implemented in full.

“The Minsk Agreements that were made with the help of our partner-countries must be introduced in full,” Poroshenko said pointing at the threat of war in Ukraine. “War may erupt at any moment, but we are ready to do everything possible to exclude any possibility to doubt or retreat,” the Ukrainian leader said.

According to Poroshenko, the authorities hope for Europe and the West to show a common stand and “will not let anyone to be through with Ukraine.” “Today, Ukraine needs both Europe and the West and they should stay together,” the Ukrainian president said.

To recap, the ceasefire on Donbass was announced on February 15 following the Minsk Agreements of February 12. Nevertheless, ceasefire breaches in Donbass have intensified recently, mainly in the village of Shirokino near Mariupol. This is where the OSCE special monitoring mission recorded the most intensive clashes on April 26.  However, the tensions are spreading into other regions too. Eduard Basurin, Deputy Head of the Headquarters of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Ministry of Defense, says Ukraine’s security officers have intensified the fire at the southern regions of the DPR, damaging residential buildings and schools.

On Saturday, the DPR authorities said Ukraine’s Armed Forces pulled seven mobile tactical groups reinforced with Grad multiple rocket launcher systems close to the line of engagement in Donbass. Ukrainian security officers and the self-defense forces clashed also on Sunday night outside the town of Gorlovka.