Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko won Parliament’s approval yesterday to shake up the leadership of the armed forces as they struggle to end a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists.
Parliament endorsed Colonel-General Valery Heletey as Defence Minister after hearing Poroshenko describe the 46-year-old as a man “who will work day and night for restoring the military capability of our armed forces”. He also named a new chief of the general staff.
Poroshenko took office last month with the country in crisis, as two eastern regions press demands to break away and join Russia, following the example of Crimea earlier this year.
After months of unsuccessful attempts to quash the uprising, he wants to sharpen the army’s effectiveness while exploring diplomatic options to end the crisis, which has revived East-West tensions in ways reminiscent of the Cold War.
Poroshenko on Monday rejected a further extension of a 10-day unilateral ceasefire in the east, where the government says 200 service personnel have been killed since the start of the conflict, as well as hundreds of civilians and rebels.
In a telephone conversation with US Vice President Joe Biden, Poroshenko repeated a promise that Kiev could return to the ceasefire, on three conditions.
A statement on his website said he wanted assurances on a ‘bilateral’ truce, the release of hostages, and the deployment of international monitors to check Ukraine’s porous border with Russia.
In Berlin on Wednesday the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, after talks with German and French ministers, supported a further meeting of a “contact group” involving separatist leaders and aimed at trying to work out conditions for a more lasting ceasefire.