Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered the government forces to switch to establishing control over the Ukrainian state border.
“The president received a report from Gen. Vitaliy Muzhenko at the Antiterrorist Operation Center that the operation on establishing the defense regime at the border was completed at 6:30 pm today. The president said: ‘Let’s switch to the next phase of the peace plan, that is, the establishment of control over the state border’,” the presidential press service reported on June 20.
After that, Poroshenko ordered that all units of the Ukrainian armed forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Service cease fire for one week.
“The Ukrainian army is ceasing fire! But this doesn’t mean that we will not repel aggression against our military. We will do all we can to defend the territory of our state,” Poroshenko said.
Ukraine’s territorial integrity is “beyond discussion,” he said.
The president handed infrared imagers, armored vests, and night-vision binoculars to military servicemen and National Guard members serving at checkpoints.
The president also met with Donetsk region residents in the city of Sviatohirsk and informed them about details of the peace plan. He also visited the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery (Lavra).
This was Poroshenko’s first working trip to Donbas as president.
