Ukraine President-Elect: No Talks With Eastern ‘Terrorists’

Insists No Civilized State Would Negotiate With Them

President-elect Petro Poroshenko, the so-called Chocolate King of Ukraine, is facing an inauguration in the middle of an active civil war, as central government troops aim to reclaim control over the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east.

Hopes that Poroshenko’s election would mean serious negotiations to settle the issue seem to have been misplaced, however, as the president-elect has ruled out any negotiations with anyone affiliated with the People’s Republics, dubbing them a “bandit state.

Poroshenko insisted no civilized state would engage in negotiations with such factions, declaring them “murderers” and “terrorists,” and saying he would prove Ukraine is a civilized country by defeating them militarily.

Poroshenko went on to say that he considered the interim government’s plan to recapture the regions in two or three months as unacceptable, saying that he believes the “counter-terror operation” needs to be carried out fully in a matter of hours.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.