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Ukraine Leader: Predecessor Trying to Derail Peace Process

Associated Press

   KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused his predecessor
   on Thursday of fomenting protests to derail a peace process for the
   country's separatist-held east and said talks with Russia were the only
   way to end the five-year war there.

   Zelenskiy told reporters that Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent leader he
   defeated in April, was "pushing" people to oppose the withdrawal of
   heavy weaponry in eastern Ukraine, where fighting against Russia-backed
   separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.

   "He is against the pullback and he thinks that he can spearhead another
   Maidan," Zelenskiy said, referring to the square in the capital of Kyiv
   that was the site of 2013-2014 protests that ousted a pro-Russian
   government and eventually propelled Poroshenko into power.

   "We want to end this war. I don't think the previous government had
   quite the same desire," Zelenskiy said.

   Zelenskiy said he hoped his country's people would back his efforts to
   end the conflict with the separatists.

   Yet the weaponry pullback failed in two locations in eastern Ukraine on
   Thursday, separatist officials said. In Kyiv, the military in charge of
   the operation in the east said one Ukrainian soldier died in shelling
   Thursday.

   Ukraine, along with Russia and the separatists, signed an accord last
   week that calls for a local election and weapons withdrawal in the
   east, paving the way for a much-anticipated summit with Russia mediated
   by the leaders of Germany and France.

   The political opposition and Poroshenko have called the steps too much
   of a concession to Moscow. Poroshenko lost his bid for re-election by a
   landslide to Zelenskiy, a comedian with no prior political experience.

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