[Al Ahram] Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed his country was "prepared for total war" as fighting continued Sunday around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
After a week in which Kiev said several unmarked armoured convoys of troops crossed the Russian border to reinforce rebels in the east, Poroshenko toughened his rhetoric, telling the German daily Bild: "I am not afraid of a war with Russian troops."
"We are prepared for a scenario of total war... We don't want war, we want peace and we are fighting for European values. But Russia does not respect any agreement," he said in an interview to be published Monday.
He said Kiev was now better prepared to face a rumoured rebel offensive.
"Our army is now in a better state than it was five months ago and we are being supported by the entire world," he told the paper.
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