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Violence may flare up in case of martial law in east Ukraine — Churkin

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin says this is “a very bad start of presidency for Poroshenko”

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin EPA/JASON SZENES

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin

© EPA/JASON SZENES

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Ukraine's military continues shelling cities in Donetsk, Luhansk regions

THE UNITED NATIONS, June 18. /ITAR-TASS/. Introduction of martial law in eastern Ukraine will be a wrong step and will result in growing violence, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said Wednesday. He stated with regret that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had made a choice in favor of a military operation and had not started talks with Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the south-east of the country.

“If current violence is not enough, martial law may flare it up. This is the wrong path,” the diplomat said in comments on Ukrainian parliament’s address being prepared to the president.

Churkin said the start of Poroshenko's presidency was a very bad one. “This is not what was expected of him. He had a perfect chance to begin everything anew, make a goodwill gesture in the way of talks with east Ukraine. Instead of this, he made a choice in favor of a military campaign,” the diplomat noted, adding that the plan to suppress any attempts to secede from Ukraine by force is “the worst of all possible scenarios.”

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Ukraine crisis Pyotr Poroshenko Vitaly Churkin

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