Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia on Thursday of launching a full-scale invasion. President Poroshenko cancelled his trip to Turkey on the same day, as the situation in the southeastern part of the country continues to deteriorate.
The Ukrainian leader is accusing Russia of sending more troops to support pro-Moscow separatists and has requested for an emergency meeting of the European Council. On the other hand, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is set to call for a UN Security Council meeting.
“I made the decision to cancel a working visit to the Republic of Turkey in connection with the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Donetsk region…as an invasion of Russian forces has taken place,” President Poroshenko was quoted saying in a statement on the presidential website.
Ukrainian military officials claim government troops continue to battle against the combined forces of Russian and separatist forces. The country’s National Security and Defense Council posted on Twitter earlier, saying that Russian troops has now taken full control over Novoazovsk, a border town on the south eastern part of Ukraine with a road connecting Russia to the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula.
The accusation comes two days after President Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a bilateral meeting. The recent talk hopes to try ease the tension between Ukraine and Russia, as the unrest and violence continue on their border. A one-on-one session between the two world leaders has stretched into the night and they even shook hands. However, there was no immediate sign that fighting in eastern Ukraine will end soon.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to deny Ukraine’s allegations and stood firm on its earlier statement that there are no regular Russian troops joining the conflict. This is despite the fact that U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt is also backing up the claim of Ukraine, saying that Russia is directly intervening in the fighting. The U.S. and its EU allies say they believe that Putin is supporting the separatists.
This latest development is part of the five-month old secession crisis when a team of unmarked armed men attacked the Crimean Peninsula in February of this year. More than 2,000 people have already died since March 2014, when the Russian president annexed Crimea.
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