Poroshenko Calls for Increased International Presence in Donbass

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a phone talk with European Council President Donald Tusk on Wednesday, discussing the situation in Donbass, the Ukrainian leader's press service said.

KIEV (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian president called for increased international presence in Donbass.

"Petro Poroshenko stressed the need to strengthen international presence in Donbass, particularly through extending the OSCE mission's work, including to the territory of Crimea, and deploying an armed OSCE police mission in Donbass," a statement on Poroshenko's website reads.

Poroshenko also called on the European Union to maintain and even strengthen the sanctions against Russia after the recent Russian statements about an Ukrainian sabotage attempt in Crimea. Tusk reaffirmed the EU commitment to maintaining the anti-Russian sanctions.

Last Wednesday, Russia's Federal Security Service said that it had dismantled a spy ring organized by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in Crimea, which was preparing acts of sabotage on "critical and life-supporting elements of the peninsula's infrastructure," An FSB officer died during a shootout that ensued during the raid.