Ukraine's Poroshenko: Arms Withdrawal Nearly Complete

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced this week that both Ukrainian fighters and pro-Russian separatists have almost completed their weapons withdrawal, following the ceasesfire agreement established between the two groups last month.

While both sides face accusations of continued fighting in light of the ceasefire agreement, Poroshenko confirmed in a televised interview that both groups had been withdrawing weapons from heavy fighting zones.

"There is a ceasefire, or there isn't. It depends on how you look at it," the president said in the interview. "We can say that we managed to halt the offensive drive of the aggressor."

"Ukraine has withdrawn the lion's share of its rocket and heavy artillery systems. The Russian-backed fighters have also withdrawn a significant amount," Poroshenko added.

The two groups were able to reach a ceasefire agreement in Minsk last month that was fielded by U.S. diplomats, including Secretary of State John Kerry. Following the ceasefire, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power accused the Russian government of supplying arms to pro-Russian rebels, while it continued to deny doing so.

Additionally, pro-Russian rebels were accused of continuing their offensive advances in towns occupied by Ukrainian troops.

Poroshenko indicated in his televised address that 64 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed since the ceasefire agreement was enacted last month. According to Reuters, nearly 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting between separatists and troops since the conflict began nearly a year ago.

According to BBC News, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will say in a speech Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies "fundamentally undermine the security of sovereign nations in Eastern Europe".

Hammond will argue that Putin decision to "illegally [annex] Crimea and now using Russian troops to destabilise eastern Ukraine", the Russian leader was "bent not on joining the international rules-based system which keeps the peace between nations, but on subverting it."