WARSAW: US President Barack Obama endorsed Ukraine’s president-elect Petro Poroshenko yesterday, offering Kiev financial and security help and saying he was the right choice to lead the country through its stand-off with Moscow.
With the death toll mounting from fighting between Kiev’s forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, Obama met Poroshenko for the first time since his election last month and said he was impressed with what he found. “What Ukrainians said in the elections is that they reject that path. They reject violence,” and want the opportunity to determine their own future, Obama told reporters after meeting Poroshenko in the Polish capital.
“That’s the hope that President Poroshenko represents,” Obama said. “In my discussions with him today it’s clear he understands the hopes and aspirations of the Ukrainian people.”
Obama described Poroshenko as a “wise selection” by the Ukrainian people and said: “I have been deeply impressed by his vision.” Poroshenko, a billionaire confectionary magnate who now takes over a country in deep crisis, told reporters he was preparing to unveil a plan for “the peaceful resolution of the situation in the east” soon after his inauguration on Saturday.
He said a gathering of world leaders in Normandy, France, on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of the World War Two D-Day landings would be crucial for the plan.Reuters
