Ukrainian president vows to seek peaceful way for Donbas return

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday pledged to search for a peaceful way to return the eastern region of Donbas which is now under the control of independence-seeking insurgents.

"I personally and my team have a strong belief that the territories must be returned using exclusively political and diplomatic means," Poroshenko was quoted by his press service as saying during a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council.

Poroshenko has strongly condemned the rail blockade in the Donbas areas, which entered its third week, saying it does not contribute to the reintegration of the region into Ukraine.

The president has vowed to find an effective way to put an end to the blockade, which has already resulted in the energy crisis in Ukraine and threatens to leave several hundreds of people living on both sides of the contact line without jobs.

The conflict has been raging in east Ukraine since April 2014, when the government troops launched offensives to regain control over the insurgent-seized cities and towns.

In late January, a group of nationalist activists blocked the railways to stop transporting coal and other raw products from the rebel-held area to the government-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.

The protesters claimed that the trade between Kiev and insurgents is illegal at the time when the two sides are in the military conflict. Endit