KYIV. June 16 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he hopes that the hostilities in the east of the country will end as early as this week.
"It has been suggested to discuss details of a presidential peace plan due to be proposed as early as this week. Furthermore, the resolutions to be made today by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) will propose a ceasefire as the beginning of implementing the presidential peace plan, " Poroshenko said while opening an NSDC meeting on Monday.
Hopefully, this can be done as early as this week, the president said.
At the same time, the head of state stressed that the time needed for achieving a ceasefire will be limited. "Getting sucked into a protracted negotiating process today would be irresponsible because we do not need talks for talks' sake," the president said.
He added: "What we urgently need today is to achieve a regime where, on the one hand, we shall be able to guarantee security for everyone living in Donetsk and Luhansk and guarantee protection against looting. We can and will facilitate the disarmament process followed by a decision over amnesty or protection against criminal liability for those individuals who did not commit any grave crimes."