Poroshenko has signed off on the nullification of Russian military agreements:
Ukraine's president has signed into law measures renouncing five bilateral defense-cooperation agreements between Ukraine and Russia.
President Petro Poroshenko signed the measures on June 8 after they were adopted by Ukraine's parliament on May 21, according to a statement on the presidential website.
The nullified agreements include one on the transit across Ukraine of Russian military personnel stationed "in the Republic of Moldova."
Russia maintains troops and peacekeepers in Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester, although the Moldovan government has repeatedly asked for them to be removed.
The other voided pacts include one on "organizing military interstate transportation," "on mutual protection of secret information," "on military-intelligence cooperation," and "on defense cooperation."
Ukraine has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country and claims there are thousands of Russian military personnel operating on Ukrainian territory.
Russia denies that its military is directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine. (Interfax, ITAR-TASS)
Just in from the G7:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the Group of Seven (G7) of major economic powers condemns Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
She also said Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States agreed they could toughen sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine “if necessary.”
More Fighting Reported In East Ukraine Town Of Maryinka
Kyiv says fighting has resumed near the town of Maryinka, 30 kilometers west of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on June 8 that pro-Russian separatists opened fire on government positions there using mortars and firearms.
A rebel defense official, Eduard Basurin, rejected the statement as "nonsense."
Ukraine's military said that a June 3 rebel offensive near Maryinka forced it to use artillery that had been removed under the cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk in February.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine has warned that violations of the truce deal are becoming more frequent and severe.
More than 6,400 people have been killed since fighting erupted in Ukraine's east between government forces and separatists in April 2014.