KIEV (Sputnik) – Poroshenko said during his annual address to the country’s parliament that majority of authorities pressured him personally calling for martial law.
“During the war we contained the country democratically. And this is besides the limitations on rights and freedoms that had a full, moral, and by the way legal right in law in line with martial law. But I could not [install martial law], regardless of political pressure from all sides and the majority of the authorities pressuring me personally.”
Kiev will continue to increase expenses on military defense, the Ukrainian president said.
“Our priority task is to rearm our military since the Ukrainian Armed Forces already have the best fighting spirit and combat experience. A renewal of the command staff of the armed forces has begun and is continuing.”
“Currently there are more than 50,000 of our Ukrainian heroes in the special operations zone,” Poroshenko said.
On Wednesday, self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Defense Minister Vladimir Kononov accused Kiev of another provocation in order to disrupt the truce, saying that Ukrainian forces had begun shelling along the entire contact line.
Ukrainian officials publicly acknowledge that Kiev had used heavy artillery in the fighting, violating the Minsk peace accords.
In February, the warring sides in Ukraine agreed to maintain a ceasefire and withdraw heavy weapons from the line of contact.
The threat of full-scale military activities in eastern Ukraine remains, Petro Poroshenko said.
“Provisions for our defense capabilities of our government will remain a key priority for a long time because of the permanent threat of Russia unfolding a full-scale war against Ukraine. And no matter how difficult this is, we will again increase expenses for defense in the 2016 budget.”
