New Ukraine defense minister nominated

Stephan Poltorak, who only took up leadership of the National Guard this April, will seek parliamentary approval as Kyiv's new defense minister on Tuesday.

Ahead of general elections in Ukraine this month, and key peace talks with Russia this week, Poroshenko made the announcement in a televised meeting with the 49-year-old.

"I talked to the generals and met regular soldiers, battalion commanders," Poroshenko told Poltorak at the meeting. "These conversations convinced me about the accuracy of my choice."

Poroshenko's office announced on Sunday that the president had "accepted the resignation" of previous Defense Mininster Valery Heletey, who had come under heavy criticism just three months after taking the job.

Heletey took much of the blame for a military defeat late in August, when pro-Russian separatists trapped the soldiers near the Russian border, reclaiming lost territory and killing more than 100 Ukrainian troops. This severe defeat near the border with Russia was one of the major developments, along with talks between Poroshenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, shortly before a September 5 ceasefire agreement was signed. Despite several violations, the truce has broadly held.

Some of the country's most respected soldiers lauded the proposed change of leadership in Kyiv's defense ministry. Military analyst Georgiy Manchulenko told the AFP news agency that Poltorak "transformed the National Guard from a volunteer corps into a real military" during his brief tenure.

New talks with Putin

Poroshenko announced last week that he would meet Putin in Italy on Friday, his third face-to-face with the Russian leader since taking office this year.

"These will not be easy negotiations, but I am ready for them," Poroshenko said in a televised address on Sunday evening.

Over the weekend, Putin ordered some 17,600 troops stationed near the border with Ukraine back to their permanent bases. Ukraine and NATO had claimed that the deployment was connected to the conflict across the border, although the Kremlin said that the soldiers had completed routine training exercises in recent months.

Some analysts said the troop movement was linked to Russia's desire to either suspend or at least roll back Western sanctions targeting Moscow. The restrictions have started to make their presence felt in Russia: on Monday, the ruble slid to a new all-time low against the euro, at 51.27 rubles to one euro. The previous record low was set in March in the wake of Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

The sanctions, and retaliatory Russian measures mainly targeting produce from Europe, have made an impact on the European economy, too. Ratings agency Standard and Poor'sdowngraded its credit rating for Russia-neighbor Finland on Friday from AAA to AA+.

msh/ng (AFP, AP, Reuters)