News - Ukraine’s new president calls for an end to war

Petro Poroshenko walks past the honor guard as he arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Ukraine's new president in Kiev June 7, 2014. Poroshenko took the oath on Saturday as Ukraine's president, buoyed by Western support but facing an immediate crisis in relations with Russia as a separatist uprising seethes in the east of his country.



KIEV, Ukraine — As he was inaugurated as Ukraine’s new president Saturday, Petro Poroshenko proposed a cease-fire with pro-Russian separatists in the restive east and denounced a culture of corruption that has impoverished the nation.

Though he said relations with neighboring Russia must ultimately improve, he had harsh words for a country that he accused of fostering dissent by spreading propaganda.
And he vowed that Kiev would never accept Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, declaring that “Russia occupied Crimea, which was, is and will be Ukrainian soil.”

Poroshenko’s assumption of the presidency represents a crossroads moment for this country of 45 million. Six months of upheaval have ratcheted up tensions between Russia and the West to Cold War heights, and Poroshenko’s inauguration offers a glimmer of hope to those seeking to avoid a full-blown civil war.

The billionaire candy maker known as the Chocolate King, whose election has buoyed hopes that he can pull his country out of a tailspin, lost no time in tackling some of the most urgent issues that have convulsed Ukraine.

Ukraine's new president Petro Poroshenko took the oath of office Saturday. (Associated Press)

First, he asked for a moment of silence for the protesters known as the Heavenly Hundred, who died when riot police fired on them in February. Then he proposed negotiations to resolve the conflict in the east.

At one point, he switched from the Ukrainian language to Russian, exhorting citizens to trust him instead of the pro-Russian separatists who have declared two people’s republics in the region and set up shop in government buildings.

“I don’t want war. I don’t want revenge,” he said, adding that he would not negotiate with “gunmen and other scoundrels.” He offered amnesty to those who “do not have the blood of peaceful citizens on their hands” and safe passage home for Russian nationals who have come to Ukraine to join, and in some cases lead, separatist units.

Poroshenko took office shortly after 10 a.m., arriving in the back of an ordinary black sedan with no police escort. He walked up the blue-carpeted stairs to the chambers of parliament and took his oath of office with his hand on a 16th-century illuminated Bible that is considered a national cultural treasure.