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Poroshenko told Bild he preferred to keep soccer and politics
separate but this was not possible when Ukrainian club Shakhtar
Donetsk was having to play 1,200 km (750 miles) away in Lviv
because Donetsk was occupied by pro-Russian separatists.
"I think there has to be discussion of a boycott of this World
Cup. As long as there are Russian troops in Ukraine, I think a
World Cup in that country is unthinkable," said Poroshenko, who
was in Berlin on an official visit on Monday.
The Ukrainian president said he would ask Germany's Chancellor
Angela Merkel to push for tougher sanctions on Russia because of
what he described as repeated separatist violations of the
ceasefire which she helped broker last month.
He was also going to ask the chancellor for more non-lethal
military aid for Ukraine's forces, such as bullet-proof vests.
"We need more to be able to defend ourselves and protect our
soldiers. We need radar reconnaissance, drones, radio and
night-vision equipment. I am going to talk to the Chancellor
about this," said Poroshenko.
"It's not about weapons of attack -- we don't want to attack
anyone," he added.
(Reporting by Stephen Brown; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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