Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko chairs a meeting in Kiev July 17, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Mykola Lazarenko/Pool

Ukraine's Poroshenko Talks Tough Ahead Of Meetings With Merkel, Putin -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he would call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to rein in pro-Russian separatists when the two men meet next week and told the Kremlin chief he had "a strong country, a strong army" behind him.

Poroshenko spoke as government forces, despite taking heavy losses themselves, thrust deeper into rebel-held territory in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and kept the separatists whom they have battled since April on the back foot.

The Ukrainian battlefield successes, after a faltering start in April when government forces were humiliated, have alarmed some Western governments who fear they could box Putin dangerously into a corner with no way out to save face.

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My Comment: When such a high-level meeting takes place between two leaders, the aides of both countries would have met beforehand to discuss and outline what will be agreed upon, what will be ignored, and what will be said at the final declaration. In this case .... nothing has been done (at least publicly). I suspect that this is the reason why German Chancellor Angela Merkel is arriving in Kiev tomorrow .... she knows what Putin wants (they have been talking for weeks) .... and she will also outline the European position on what needs to be done to resolve this crisis. The key question that needs to be answered is ... what will Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko do? My prediction .... he will just take Merkel's remarks under advisement .... and we still continue the military campaign that has now completely devastated the eastern part of the country.