KIEV, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held yet another phone conversation with US Vice President Joe Biden – the fifth one this month – to discuss international efforts aimed at settling the crisis in the country, the press service of the Ukrainian President reported.
Poroshenko stressed during the conversation that a peace plan is the only way to handle the situation in Ukraine and find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
“Petro Poroshenko stressed that safety of civilians, in particular the citizens of Donetsk and Luhansk, remains an absolute priority throughout the course of the anti-terrorist operation. The president is convinced that a peace plan is the only way to restore peace in Donbas and stability in Ukraine,” the statement read.
Since mid-April, the authorities in Kiev have been conducting a special operation to suppress the growing independence movement in the country’s eastern regions, the citizens of which revolted against the leadership that came to power following a regime change in February.
According to the UN estimates, the Kiev-backed operation has already took the lives of more than 1,100 civilians and injured more than 3,400. The recent data by the Russian authorities shows that since the beginning of the conflict more than 730,000 Ukrainian citizens fled their country and crossed into Russia.
