The Ukrainian government is ready to declare martial law throughout Ukraine if there is an escalation of the conflict in the east, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday during a government meeting with the heads of regional state administrations.
“I can say that I, the government and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are ready to take a decision on the introduction of martial law throughout the country. In any case, I will not be late with this decision, if the irresponsible actions of the aggressor lead to a further escalation of the conflict,” Poroshenko was cited by unian.net.
According to the Ukrainian leader, the planned decentralisation of the Ukrainian governance system will have nothing in common with Ukraine’s federalisation.
“The decentralisation that we are devising will have nothing in common with federalization. Ukraine has been and will remain to be a unitary state. This fully meets the Ukrainian people’s attitudes, and I’ve said that over 90% [of Ukrainians] firmly stand on the positions of a unitary state,” Interfax-Ukraine quotes Poroshenko as saying.
The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine are to hold peace talks in Minsk on Wednesday, 11 February, in an effort to avert a full-scale war in Ukraine. This may become a watershed meeting for the future of Ukraine.
