Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko will not attend the World Cup final match in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, a game pitting Argentina against Germany.
“The president believes it is impossible to attend the World Cup final match due to the situation in the country,” reads an official statement on July 13.
Poroshenko, who was invited by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, could have met Russian President Vladimir Putin during the game, according to Brazilian officials who earlier confirmed that both presidents will attend the match.
Poroshenko’s decision was backed by Ukrainians.
“It’s good he (Poroshenko) didn’t go to Brazil,” Lesya Orobets, an independent lawmaker, posted on her Facebook page July 13. “There is neither Olympic Games, no Mondiale for Ukrainian politicians this year.”
The president’s statement came after the news of new casualties in eastern Ukraine this weekend.
Fighting continued in Donetsk and Luhansk regions overnight on July 13. At least six people were killed and eight were wounded in Donetsk’s suburbs when a rocket crashed into apartment building in Marinka early on Jy 12.
Details are murky, but the Ukrainian military and rebels blame each other for the incident.
