Hollande: The conflict in eastern Ukraine could escalate
President of France François Hollande believes that there is a high likelihood that the situation in eastern Ukraine will deteriorate further.
François Hollande spoke about the risk of the situation in eastern Ukraine becoming worse. “This summer the situation has become much worse. Risks of escalation are high,” the president of France stated on Tuesday, August 30 during an annual gathering of French ambassadors, Reuters reports.
Hollande said that, together with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, he spent the entire month of August holding negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in order to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In recent months, the situation in the Donbas has escalated. Today Kyiv reported numerous attacks on Ukrainian positions by militias; there are reports of dead and injured Ukrainian servicemen nearly every day.
As President Petro Poroshenko stated on August 18, if the situation in the Donbas escalates, martial law will be imposed and mobilization declared. “The possibility of escalation of the conflict remains high. We do not absolutely exclude full-scale invasion in all directions,” the president stated, adding that Ukraine is ready to repel the enemy.