KYIV. Feb 11 (Interfax) - Ukraine should brace for two possible scenarios in eastern Ukraine, i.e. to negotiate peace or continue defending itself, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
"I think that, unfortunately, we need to be ready for both scenarios: namely, peace (I and the entire Ukrainian delegation will do all we can for that) and the need to defend the country," Poroshenko said at an expanded government meeting on Wednesday.
The maximum possible effort should be applied to provide the Ukrainian armed forces with all they need to efficiently defend the country, he said.
"There should be no panic, which the enemy is trying to incite by sending text messages and circulating various channels that someone is in a trap, and that they should flee, and that we've been abandoned - everything is just the opposite. We want peace, but if we need to punch someone in the teeth, we'll punch them in the teeth, and if we need to defend our land, we'll be doing this till the end," he said.