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 Parliament endorsed Colonel-General Valery Heletey as defense
minister after hearing Poroshenko describe the 46-year-old as a man
"who will work day and night for restoring the military capability
of our armed forces." He also named a new chief of the general
staff.
Poroshenko took office last month with the country in crisis, as two
eastern regions press demands to break away and join Russia,
following the example of Crimea earlier this year.
After months of unsuccessful attempts to quash the uprising, he
wants to sharpen the army's effectiveness while exploring diplomatic
options to end the crisis, which has revived East-West tensions in
ways reminiscent of the Cold War.
Poroshenko on Monday rejected a further extension of a 10-day
unilateral ceasefire in the east, where the government says 200
service personnel have been killed since the start of the conflict,
as well as hundreds of civilians and rebels.
In Berlin on Wednesday the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine,
after talks with German and French ministers, supported a further
meeting of a "contact group" involving separatist leaders and aimed
at trying to work out conditions for a more lasting ceasefire.
The group includes a former president of Ukraine, who is informally
representing Kiev, Moscow's ambassador to Kiev, and a high-ranking
official from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe.
It should meet "no later than July 5th with the goal of reaching an
unconditional and mutually agreed sustainable ceasefire", a document
agreed by the four ministers said.
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to
encourage the separatists to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian
authorities, the French president's office said.
DETERRING AGGRESSION
Poroshenko, looking solemn and at times striking the table with his
hand to make a point, did not mention the Berlin talks or the
agreement on a possible new ceasefire, but put the emphasis instead
on the need for a strong, reformed army to defend Ukraine.
Heletey, who will replace acting defense minister Mykhailo Koval,
would enact reforms to build an army which would deter anybody "from
planning aggression" against Ukraine, he said.
The new head of the general staff, 52-year-old Lieutenant-General
Viktor Muzhenko, was until recently a top official in the
"anti-terrorist operation" grouping the army and other security
bodies in the drive against the rebels.
Though Poroshenko won backing on the military shake-up, a debate on
"decentralization" proposals for the regions, which is part of his
peace plan, ran into trouble when a key coalition partner came out
against them.
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OVERNIGHT ATTACKS
In overnight violence, one Ukrainian soldier was killed when rebels
approached in a car bearing a white flag and then opened fire, a
military spokesman, Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky, said.
The border service also said nine border guards were wounded in a
rebel mortar attack on their post in Luhansk region on the border
with Russia.
Poroshenko declared a week-long ceasefire on June 20 to give rebels
the time to down weapons under an amnesty offered in his peace plan.
He extended it by three days on June 27. But on Monday he refused to
prolong it on the advice of his security officials who said the
ceasefire had allowed rebels to regroup and rearm, and had cost the
lives of government troops.Poroshenko's decision to relaunch
operations against the rebels won U.S. support but harsh
condemnation from Russia.
Moscow denies Poroshenko's charges that it is stoking the conflict
by allowing arms and Russian mercenaries to pass across the joint
border to reinforce the separatists.
Parliament was also scheduled on Thursday to hear Poroshenko's
proposals for constitutional changes that will allow him to press a
plan to devolve more powers to the regions.
By giving regions a greater say over their own affairs and finances,
and by granting language rights to non-Ukrainian speakers,
Poroshenko's "decentralization" plan aims to address grievances of
Russian speakers in the east.
But the Fatherland party, a key coalition partner whose support
Poroshenko requires, criticized the plan and said it wanted debate
to be postponed.
(Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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