KIEV, September 1 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is currently meeting with defense and security chiefs in the General Staff’s headquarters in Kiev, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine said Monday.
“Currently, all defense and security chiefs are meeting in the General Staff’s headquarters, who were summoned by the president, the commander-in-chief. They are analyzing the current situation in the country, because we need to make decisions quickly now, we have no time to think it all over,” spokesman Andriy Lysenko told the ICTV channel.
Earlier on Monday, Poroshenko met with chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Menendez in Kiev. According to the president’s press service, in the course of the meeting, Poroshenko informed of his plan to visit the NATO Summit, which will be held in the United Kingdom on September 4-5, to hold negotiations on the coordination of future actions in relation to the Ukrainian crisis.
The Ukrainian President will also discuss the situation in his country during an upcoming meeting to the United States planned for the second part of September, according to his press service.
Since mid-April, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the independence supporters in southeastern Ukraine who refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government after a February coup.
Over the past few days, the situation in Luhansk and Donetsk regions worsened with fighting intensifying. Local militia have been trying to protect civilians and drive Ukrainian troops away from the populated areas.
The conflict has already claimed more than 2,500 lives, according to the latest UN statistics, published last week.
