Poroshenko claims Crimea

After taking his oath of office in front of guests from more than 50 countries, Poroshenko vowed in his inaugural address to "preserve and strengthen Ukraine's unity" as he prepares to face the challenge posed by a pro-Russian separatist movement in the east of the country.

"I do not want war. I do not want revenge. I want peace, and I will make unity happen," he said.

He called on the separatists, who have occupied several towns in the east in a sometimes bloody insurgency, and armed groups opposing them to lay down their weapons, promising an amnesty "for those who do not have blood on their hands."

In his speech, Poroshenko promised the residents of the eastern Donbas region, which is largely in rebel hands, that he would decentralize power and guarantee the free use of the Russian language.

But he also said that there would be no compromise with Moscow on the status of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in March after a controversial referendum appeared to show a majority of residents in favor of leaving Ukraine.

"Crimea has been and will remain Ukrainian," he said, adding that he had "put that clearly to the Russian leader in Normandy," referring to a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of D-Day commemorations in France on Friday.

The unrest in eastern Ukraine has further soured relations with Moscow, which opposes Kyiv's military action against the pro-Russian insurgents. Russia in its turn has denied accusations that it is fomenting the insurgency or actively supporting the rebels.

EU ties

Poroshenko also said he intended very soon to sign the economic part of an Association Agreement with the European Union, saying he saw this as a first step to full membership.

His predecessor in office, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted in February after sometimes violent street protests after he rejected an EU Association Agreement in favor of closer ties with Moscow.

Poroshenko was elected on May 25 as the country's fifth president since independence with more than 54 percent of the vote.

His inauguration ceremony on Saturday in the Ukrainian parliament in the capital, Kyiv, was attended by the presidents of Germany and Poland, Joachim Gauck and Bronislaw Komorowski. US Vice President Joseph Biden and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy were also among the guests, as was the authoritarian president of neighboring Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, known to be a close ally of the Kremlin.

tj/pfd (AP, AFP, Reuters)