KIEV
Success cannot be gained through military means in the Donetsk Basin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has told Ukrainian television channels.
Saying Kiev needed to gain the trust of the people of Donetsk, Poroshenko said: "Self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics do not have the economic conditions to survive without Ukraine."
He said the region could not use 80 percent of its industrial potential and was dependent on Ukraine.
His comments came after pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine refused on Saturday to recognize a law signed by Poroshenko which granted special status to local authorities.
On September 5, the Ukrainian government and separatist leaders signed a cease-fire after negotiations in Belarus, aimed at ending the five-month conflict.
However, shelling took place three days later near Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine and clashes have continued.
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