Mr. Poroshenko's announcement, in a nationally televised statement after midnight, came on the heels of two consecutive days of conference calls with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany that failed to yield concrete steps toward a peace agreement. On Friday, European leaders issued an ultimatum to Russia, demanding it do more to end the violence caused by the rebels in eastern Ukraine. But attacks on government forces continued.
Dmytro Tymchuk, a military analyst close to the Ukrainian government, praised Mr. Poroshenko's decision, saying that the one-sided adherence to the cease-fire by the Ukrainian military had only strengthened the rebel forces, allowing them to rearm and regroup.
"Every day the truce, whatever its political significance, provided tangible reinforcement to the terrorists from a military point of new," Mr. Tymchuk wrote on Facebook, adding, "A longer truce period would give terrorists a chance to drastically increase their combat readiness."
Mr. Tymchuk said that government forces had begun pounding rebels shortly after receiving Mr. Poroshenko's new orders. "Air and artillery strikes are being carried out against all sites where there are terrorist strongholds and groups of terrorists are located," he wrote.
In Kiev, the parliament speaker, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, confirmed that Ukrainian forces were once again on the offensive against insurgents. "The active phase of the counterterrorism operation resumed in the morning," he said, opening the day's session. "Our armed forces are striking the bases and strongholds of the terrorists."
Mr. Turchynov also said that Parliament was prepared to consider a request by Mr. Poroshenko to impose a state of emergency in the east, but that such a move toward martial law could only be made by the president.
The decision by Mr. Poroshenko to call off the cease-fire, while saying he still hoped to reach a truce in the coming days, reflected his conclusion that Russia was not genuinely working to bring the rebel forces under control even as President Vladimir V. Putin participated in conference calls and the Kremlin issued statements in support of a peace process.
Mr. Poroshenko's decision also reflected a clear lack of confidence by the Ukrainian government that its European allies would follow through on threats of additional economic sanctions against Russia.
European leaders had issued a series of demands of Russia on Friday, and had set Monday as a deadline for tangible results, including that rebel forces relinquish control of three border crossings to the Ukrainian authorities. On Sunday and Monday, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France held lengthy conference calls.
But with no sign of progress — and with no indication from the Europeans that they were prepared to go forward with new sanctions — Mr. Poroshenko met with his national security team on Monday night and emerged resolute that the Ukrainian military go back on the offensive.
The United States and its Nato allies have accused Russia of sending tanks, artillery and other weapons to the rebels, and of allowing fighters from Russia to cross the border to join rebel militias. Some rebel leaders had demanded a complete withdrawal of government troops from eastern Ukraine as a precondition for formal peace negotiations.
Mr. Putin and other senior Russian leaders have repeatedly blamed the government in Kiev for the violence in the east. They said that the former Ukrainian president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, was ousted illegally in a coup, and insisted that the rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the east have been under threat.
In Russia's first comment on the ending of the cease-fire, the foreign ministry on Tuesday said that Mr. Poroshenko's decision had undermined the personal diplomatic efforts of the four heads of state, and suggested that Mr. Poroshenko had been pressured by his Western allies to end the cease-fire.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said, "This step by Kiev is very regrettable."
In addition to asserting that the West had pressured Mr. Poroshenko to end the cease-fire, the ministry again described the rebel activity in eastern Ukraine as the actions of political protesters.
"We are urging yet again to stop using Ukraine as a loose coin in geopolitical games and to stop imposing a criminal line for the forceful suppression of protests," the agency said.
Russia said peace negotiations should resume immediately and blamed the Ukrainian government for the failure of previous talks. "We are convinced that the efforts to put the situation back on the negotiation track should be continued, including urgent meeting of the contact group," the ministry said. "We will assist this in every way."
Two meetings of the so-called contact group, led by the former Ukrainian president, Leonid M. Kuchma, took place last week in Donetsk. In Kiev, an aide to Mr. Poroshenko, Iryna Gerashchenko, told reporters on Tuesday that the next session might be held in Minsk, the capital of neighboring Belarus.
Overnight, there were reports that two explosions damaged railroad lines in the east. A television tower serving the besieged city of Slovyansk was also destroyed by artillery fire, Ukrainian news services reported.
Rebel leaders on Tuesday accused government forces of never adhering to Mr. Poroshenko's cease-fire, which he had announced unilaterally on June 20. Some rebel leaders, after initial peace talks three days later, had pledged to adhere to the truce, while others had said they would continue fighting.
Kostyantyn Knyrik, a spokesman for one rebel faction, told the Interfax news service that there had never been a ceasefire. "After Kiev declared its so-called cease-fire, strikes conducted by Ukrainian servicemen against Slovyansk and Semenivka did not stop for a day," Mr. Knyrik said. He said rebels had documented 200 instances of violation of the cease-fire by government troops.
"As a matter of fact, there was no ceasefire there," Mr. Knyrik told Interfax. "The decision not to extend the ceasefire will not significantly impact military operations."
The Ukrainian government has said that at least 27 of its soldiers were killed by militants in the days after Mr. Poroshenko declared the ceasefire.
In Kiev, some supporters of the Ukrainian government cheered Mr. Poroshenko's decision as brave but necessary in the face of ongoing aggression by rebels and political stalling by Russia.
Mustafa Nayyem, an influential journalist with the Ukrainska Pravada news site, wrote on Facebook, "It is a living illustration of the proverb 'Better a horrible end than horror without end.' "
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/followceleb.cms?alias=Ukrainian military,Petro O. Poroshenko
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Heavy clashes after Ukraine’s leader ends ceasefire
Dengan url
http://susucanglai.blogspot.com/2014/07/heavy-clashes-after-ukraineas-leader.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Heavy clashes after Ukraine’s leader ends ceasefire
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Heavy clashes after Ukraine’s leader ends ceasefire
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar