KIEV
If efforts to peacefully resolve the unrest in eastern Ukraine fail there is no alternative but to impose martial law, the chair of Ukraine's parliament has warned.
Oleksandr Turchynov said in an interview with Fokus magazine that he was skeptical that pro-Russia separatists would abide by a cease-fire reached last Friday.
"I think they will do anything to derail the peace efforts and continue [their] aggression against Ukrainian forces," he said.
Kiev and pro-Russia separatists in the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk signed a cease-fire deal on Friday to end nearly five months of intense fighting. However, reports of shelling and clashes between government forces and rebels have raised concerns that the truce could collapse.
Turchynov, who was acting president in the interim period between the overthrow of former Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych and Ukraine’s presidential election on May 25, described the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine as an invasion and a violation of international law.
"It is imperative that all military forces and equipment of Russian armed forces immediately withdraw from Ukrainian territory, and armed gangs and terrorist groups disarm. Only then [will] peace negotiations … be meaningful," he said.
Kiev and its Western allies are accusing Russia of sending troops and military equipment to fight alongside the separatists in the east. The European Union has introduced sanctions targeting some of Russia's key economic sectors and people accused of undermining Kiev's sovereignty.
The sanctions followed Moscow's annexation of Crimea after a disputed self-rule referendum held in March on the heels of the overthrow of Yanukovych in February.
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