KYIV. May 20 (Interfax) - The only chance to reestablish Ukrainian sovereignty over the Donbas territories currently not controlled by Kyiv is to use political-diplomatic methods, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in commenting on a march of Azov battalion activists in Kyiv on Friday.
"I can't refrain from saying several words about today's march in Kyiv. These pictures were shown first on Russian television: tires, firecrackers, reports on injured policemen and injured civilians. These pictures have been circulated intentionally to allege that some are trying to destabilize the situation in the country. I'd like to stress my absolutely clear position once again: there is no military way to return Donbas," Poroshenko said at a meeting of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council on Friday.
The key positions on which Ukraine insists and which can win it international solidarity and support include the release of hostages, the withdrawal of armed units from Donbas, political settlement principles, and the reestablishment of Ukraine's control over its border, Poroshenko said.
Poroshenko said also that this can ensure the efficient enlargement of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and the deployment of a special OSCE armed police mission to maintain a peaceful transition period.
The Ukrainian leader said these are the basic details of the Minsk Agreements based on his peace plan. "Disrupting peace processes by hiding behind something would be absolutely irresponsible toward the state, and this would only leave parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions under occupation because of these processes," he said.
"As the supreme commander-in-chief and the president, I cannot allow this. This is not my scenario," Poroshenko said.
Most Ukrainians support peace and the peaceful reestablishment of Ukrainian sovereignty over Donbas, Poroshenko said. "We won't turn away from this path," he said.