Poroshenko stopped to defend his decision to grant special status to the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of east Ukraine. Critics say the move could create a frozen-conflict zone. Poroshenko insists the measures will not compromise Ukraine’s independence or territorial integrity.  

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lays flowers at a memorial in Kyiv to Georgiy Gongadze, the journalist who was kidnapped and murdered in 2000.