The ceremony of inauguration of the fifth President of the independent Ukraine took place in Kyiv on 7 June. In his inauguration speech the new leader of the country stressed on the importance of securing the sovereignty of the country and emphasized the permanent direction toward the European integration of Ukraine. 

“The whole generations of Ukrainian patriots struggled for our national independence. The heroes of the “Heavenly Hundred” have died for it. Ukrainian soldiers and peaceful citizens die for it” – said the President and proposed a moment of silence to honour the memory of all who had died for the freedom and independence of Ukraine.

The President in his speech proposed a peace plan to resolve the situation in the Donbas. The plan provides the disarmament of everybody who took up the weapon unlawfully, the amnesty, the arrangement of a corridor for the withdrawal of Russian mercenaries, the broad peaceful dialogue and early local elections in Donbas and the package of economic reforms.

“I urge everyone who illegally took up arms to lay it down. In response I guarantee, firstly, an exemption from criminal responsibility for those who are not guilty for the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. And for those who are not involved in terrorist financing. Secondly, a controlled corridor for Russian mercenaries who want to return home. Thirdly, peaceful dialogue”, - the Head of State declared the plan.

Petro Poroshenko stressed that no dialogue was possible neither with “stryelkamy”, “abvyeramy”, “byesamy” nor with other “evil spirits”. “Today we need a legitimate partner for dialogue. We will not talk with the bandits. The issue of early local elections is on the agenda”, - said PetroPoroshenko.

Addressing compatriots of Donetsk and Lugansk regions in Russian, the President said: “The general election of the President put a big cross on the myth of the alleged illegitimate Kyiv authorities. This myth was seeded and grown by Russian propaganda and Yanukovych clan who betrayed Donbas and robbed him even more than the entire country. He ruled the Donetsk region unchallenged for 17 years. And now he is funding terrorists. He is solely responsible for the political and social and economic situation which the region is turned out to be in”.

The President stressed that he appealed to Donbas “with peace, with the project of decentralization of power, with the guarantee of free use of Russian language" and "with the firm intention not to divide Ukrainians into right or wrong, with respect for the peculiarities of the regions”.

Regarding the question of the status of Russian language the President stressed that he would be guided by Article 10 of the Constitution, according to which Ukrainian is the only official, but the free development of Russian and other languages is guaranteed.

The President said that he would submit to Donbas a joint project with the European Union on the creation of jobs in the region. He stressed on the prospective of investments and draft program of economic reconstruction of Donbas.

“The peace has not yet come, but today we can firmly say that the hard trials united Ukrainian family. They have strengthened us as the Ukrainian political nation, confident in its European choice. Our nation has never been so strong as now”, - these words of the leader were met with applause.

Stressing that freedom “must be constantly fought for” the President noted the importance of strengthening national security. “To ensure a lasting peace we must get used to living in constant readiness, - he said. - Army and its rearmament by efforts of the domestic military-industrial complex - is our major priority”.

The President assured that he would use his diplomatic experience to ensure signing of the international agreement which would replace the Budapest memorandum. “This agreement should provide a direct and reliable guarantee of peace and security – up to military support in case of a threat to the territorial integrity”, - he said.

Talking about the necessity of normalization of relations with Russia, Poroshenko said: “There can be no compromise with anyone regarding the Crimea, and the European choice of government. But everything else should be discussed and resolved by means of negotiations”.

The Head of State stressed on the commitment to a parliamentary-presidential republic. "No usurpation of power! European democracy for me is the best way of government invented by mankind. This European experience tells us that a significant portion of authority should be delegated from the center to local governments". According to him, the reform to decentralize will begin this year by amendments to the Constitution.

“But Ukraine was, is and will be a unitary state”, - he said.

Speaking on “the request of society for a complete reboot of power and early parliamentary elections”, Petro Poroshenko said that the current composition of the Parliament did not match the mood of society that had changed significantly since 2012”. “The will of the people should not be neglected”, - he said.

The President said that the first guarantee of internal peace and national security was the ensuring employment with decent wages. Stressing that Ukraine has everything necessary to provide people with European prosperity, the President expressed confidence that, as in Europe, the country would build the economy of free competition. “But for this the corruption should be eliminated. We need a national anticorruption pact between the government and the people. The essence of it is simple: the officials do not take, and people do not give. We cannot change the country unless we change yourself, our relation to our own life and the life of the whole country", - he said.

Petro Poroshenko stressed the need for early signing of the economic agreement with the European Union and the introduction of a visa-free regime.

“We consider Association Agreement as only the first step towards the full EU membership for Ukraine. Nobody has the right to veto the European choice of Ukraine”, - he said.

The President stressed the importance of political consolidation and teamwork of the President, the Parliament and the Cabinet.