Poroshenko Sworn-In amid East Ukraine Clashes
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a combative inaugural speech that Ukraine would not give up Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from it in March.
"Crimea was, is, and will be Ukrainian," Poroshenko said in an emotional address after his swearing-in on Saturday. He was greeted with a standing ovation.
He stressed the unity of Ukraine, which is fighting a pro-Russian separatist uprising in the east, and said it would not become a federalised state as advocated by Moscow.
Poroshenko also said he intended very soon to sign the economic part of an association agreement with the European Union, as a first step towards full membership.
The new president promised amnesty "for those who do not have blood on their hands.''
That appeared to apply both to separatist, pro-Russia insurgents in the country's east and to nationalist groups that oppose them, Al Jazeera reported.
Poroshenko also promised dialogue with citizens in the eastern regions, but excluded the rebels.
"Talking to gangsters and killers is not our avenue,'' he said, according to a translator. He also called for early regional elections in the east.
Government forces continued to battle rebel fighters in the east even as Poroshenko, 48, took the oath of office and delivered his inaugural speech on Saturday.
Kiev began an intensified campaign against the rebels the morning after Poroshenko's May 25 election, with the rebels fighting back and turning parts of the east into a war zone.
The billionaire confectionary magnate will be Ukraine's fifth president since independence and its first since 1991 to win election with more than half the vote in a single round.
Poroshenko has promised to bridge the east-west divide that has split the country and thrust it into a battle for its very survival.
Western governments and Russia, locked in a geopolitical fight over Ukraine's future, will be watching for clues on how he intends to handle the eastern rebellions.
