Petro Poroschenko, the new President of Ukraine, has officially announced he will sign an association agreement with the European Union on the 27^th of June.

In February, Viktor Yanukovich refused to sign the EU deal because of his pro-Russian policy. When Yanukovich left Kiev, the new interim government decided to sign the political parts of the European association agreement.

In the meantime, Ukraine crisis continues. NATO said Putin moved again Russian military forces to the Ukraine borders. The NATO Secretary General, Mr Rasmussen affirmed: “I consider this a very regrettable step backwards and it seems that Russia keeps the option to intervene further…”

Rebels are attacking in the area of Krasnyy Liman, a small town next to the rebels’ strong hub in Donetsk region. The government ultimatum was refused by the rebel commander, Igor Strelkov. Strelkov is a Russian officer in the military reserves who want to eliminate all the perceived enemies of the Russian state and who has participated in several military campaigns on federal side such as in Chechnya and in the conflict in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria. According to the Russian media, Strelkov took part in the Bosnian War as a volunteer and in Chechnya under contract.

On April 26, Strelkov said that his militia in Sloviansk was formed in Crimea and consisted of volunteer veterans of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, and others.

Mattia Sozio