Ukraine's President to Unveil Peace Plan; Clashes Continue | WPN World People News

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko is set to unveil a 14-point peace plan Friday that is designed to end a deadly pro-Russian separatist insurgency in the country's east.

The plan calls for a unilateral cease-fire that would give rebels a chance to disarm or leave the country. Poroshenko outlined the provisions in a Thursday phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government says fresh chases erupted in the volatile eastern region Friday after seven soldiers were killed in fighting late Thursday.

Also, Ukrainian security officials said 300 rebels had been killed in clashes in the Donetsk region since Thursday, but the figure could not be independently confirmed.

On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia had resumed a troop build-up along its border with Ukraine.

He said "at least a few thousand more" Russian troops had been deployed to the region. He called the move a "very regrettable step backwards."

Up to 40,000 Russian troops were deployed near the border with Ukraine, but NATO reported last month that they had been withdrawn from the area.

In another development, President Poroshenko said Thursday he would sign an association agreement with the European Union on June 27.

The refusal by Ukraine's former pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, to sign the EU association agreement last November triggered the unrest that led to his ouster earlier this year.

Source: Voice of America