Poroshenko is currently in the process of signing a "historic" Association Agreement with the EU. Here is a little bit more detail from our news desk:
Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova are taking a big step toward the West and away from Moscow on June 27 when they sign key accords with the European Union in Brussels.
Ukraine will sign an agreement on closer economic ties with the EU, formally known as a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement (DCFTA).
Moldova and Georgia will each also sign a DCFTA, along with an Association Agreement on closer political ties with the EU.
Arriving at EU headquarters in Brussels, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said today represents a "new perspective" for Ukraine and called it "one of the most historic days" for Ukraine since its independence.
Former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign the agreements back in November sparked the Euromaidan revolt that led to his ouster.
In March, the EU and Kyiv signed an Association Agreement after Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Brussels had planned to sign the political and trade pacts with Chisinau and Tblisi later this year but moved up the date amid concerns Moscow may try to obstruct the process.
Russia has threatened to respond with trade barriers as it pushes its own Eurasian Economic Union.
Among other things, the agreements will allow the three countries unfettered access to the EU's market of 500 million consumers.
Ukraine -- along with Georgia and Moldova -- has signed an Association Agreement with the EU. Our news desk has the details:
Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova have signed key economic and political accords with the European Union in Brussels.
Ukraine signed an agreement on closer economic ties with the EU, as did Moldova and Georgia, who also signed documents on closer political ties.
The moves represent a big step toward the West and away from Russia for the three nations.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said "future generations will remember this day."
Both Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stressed the accords are not aimed at harming Russia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said becoming a member of the European family is Georgia's "unwavering will."
Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said the accords offer his country "a future."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said "over the last months, Ukraine has paid the highest possible price to make its European dream come true."
Former President Viktor Yanukovych's abrupt refusal to sign the agreements back in November sparked the Euromaidan revolt that led to his ouster in February.
Kyiv says four Ukrainian soldiers die in night fighting in Donetsk region http://t.co/NnVLhfEivV
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) June 27, 2014
"The Guardian" has reissued a powerful piece from "Novaya gazeta's" Elena Kostyuchenko on the fate of one Russian man who went to fight for the separatists in eastern Ukraine:
Accounts of the conflict in eastern Ukraine differ so wildly that it is often difficult to see through the propaganda and get to the truth. Authorities in Kiev suggest that there are no angry or unhappy locals in eastern Ukraine, merely “Russian terrorists”. In Moscow, the Kremlin and foreign ministry insist that brave residents are merely standing up for their rights against Ukrainian “fascism”.
The reality, as so often, lies between these two extremes. While there are many locals fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, there are also many “volunteers” who have come from Russia. How these people arrived, what motivates them, and whether they have any official Russian backing has largely remained a mystery.
But in tracking down the widow of one Russian man who died during the fighting at Donetsk airport, Elena Kostyuchenko, a correspondent for the independent news site Novaya Gazeta, sheds some light onto the murky structures organising the transfer of fighters to Ukraine. She also paints a moving portrait of loss and of the frustration of dealing with Russian officialdom apparently so keen to cover up all traces of those fighting across the border...
Read the full story here
Here's an update from our news desk on the Russian presidential aide who told the BBC that Poroshenko was "a Nazi:"
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says a comment by a senior Russian official who called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko "a Nazi" does not represent the Kremlin's official position.
Dmitri Peskov is quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the remark by Sergei Glazyev, a senior Putin adviser, "does not reflect the official point of view" of the Russian government.
In an interview with the BBC released today, Glazyev also said Poroshenko's signing of a key accord on closer ties with the EU was as illegitimate as the Ukrainian president himself, who Glazyev argued had not been elected by people in eastern Ukraine.
Poroshenko today signed an agreement on closer economic ties with the EU.
Kyiv and the EU signed the political part of the agreement in March, after Russia's annexation of Crimea.
The pact is strongly opposed by Russia.
Some interesting signature styles on display here in this video of the official siging of the EU association agreements earlier today:
And here's another video of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso attempting to assuage Russian concerns about the signing of the association agreements:
Putin: “Attempts to impose... a false choice btwn Europe + Russia pushed (Ukr) society towards a schism, a painful internal confrontation”
— Tom Parfitt (@parfitt_tom) June 27, 2014
Ukraine might lose 40 bln USD after signing #AA as Russia will have to change conditions of trade -MP @Alexey_Pushkov http://t.co/1ofC9BQk0y
— Yulia Bragina (@YuliaSkyNews) June 27, 2014
Some new information coming in regarding Ukrainian displaced persons and refugees, as reported by RFE/RL's news desk:
The UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, says that some 16,400 people have fled their homes in eastern Ukraine in the past week in reaction to the deteriorating security situation.
The latest figures bring the number of displaced within the country to 54,000.
UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva that the agency is "seeing a sharp rise in [internal] displacement in Ukraine."
She said another 110,000 people have left Ukraine for Russia so far this year, only 9,500 of whom have sought refugee status.
She said 700 others have gone to Poland, Belarus, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked on the crisis at the Kremlin on June 27, saying the violence in eastern Ukraine has forced tens of thousands of Ukrainians to seek refuge, including in Russia.