Photo from UNIAN

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says the National Guard of Ukraine will play a leading role in the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas.

"Today, when we are changing the format of the operation to return control over the seized territories in accordance with the law... the role of the National Guard in the liberation of Donbas remains extremely important," Poroshenko said, speaking at the International Interdepartmental Multidisciplinary Training Center for the National Guard units in Kyiv region on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the National Guard, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

Read alsoPoroshenko, Groysman congratulate National Guard on professional holidayThe president thanked the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for "supporting by an almost constitutional majority" his legislative proposals and his "strategy for the reintegration of Donbas, the return of Russian-occupied Donbas to Ukraine".

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As UNIAN reported earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on March 16 announced the completion of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas and transition to the Joint Forces Operation.

He also appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Lt. Gen Serhiy Nayev to the newly created post of Ukraine's Commander of the Joint Forces.