The operation will gain a military format under the leadership of General Serhiy Nayev.

The Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas will end in May, President Petro Poroshenko told a press conference in Vinnytsia.

"The end date of the ATO will be in May, and we will move on to another format of the country's defense in accordance with the law [on Donbas reintegration] adopted. We are introducing new, more effective measures with the use of the armed forces," he said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

"We are doing this because we see a sharp increase in the level of threat in the east of our state... The regime of the ATO, where everything was coordinated through the SBU, will now be transferred to the leadership of the Armed Forces," Poroshenko added.

Read alsoPoroshenko appoints Commander of Joint Forces

As UNIAN reported, on March 16, President Petro Poroshenko announced the end of the ATO and further transition to the Operation of Joint Forces.

According to him, representatives of other military formations and law enforcement agencies involved in accomplishing tasks in Donbass will be transferred under the leadership of the Joint Forces, the Commander of the Joint Forces to be in charge of them. </s> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, second from right, speak with soldiers during a military training at a military base in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov, 28, 2018. Russia and Ukraine traded blame after Russian border guards on Sunday opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels and eventually seized them and their crews. The incident put the two countries on war footing and raised international concern. (Mykola Lazarenko, Presidential Press Service via AP) (AP) </s> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko speak to soldiers during a visit to a military base in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov, 28, 2018. Russia and Ukraine traded blame after Russian border guards on Sunday opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels and eventually seized them and their crews. The incident put the two countries on war footing and raised international concern. (Mykola Lazarenko, Presidential Press Service via AP) (Mykola Lazarenko) </s> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, second from right, speak with soldiers during a military training at a military base in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov, 28, 2018. Russia and Ukraine traded blame after Russian border guards on Sunday opened fire on three Ukrainian navy vessels and eventually seized them and their crews. The incident put the two countries on war footing and raised international concern. (Mykola Lazarenko, Presidential Press Service via AP) (Mykola Lazarenko) </s> UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT PETRO Poroshenko has announced the end of a martial law in the country’s border regions, which was introduced last month after Russia’s seizure of three of Kiev’s navy vessels in the Sea of Azov.

“Today, right now, at 2:00 pm (12pm Irish time) the martial law ends,” Poroshenko said during a live streamed National Security and Defence Council meeting in Kiev.

The president said he had reached the decision “based on analysis of all the components of the security situation in the country”.

The move to impose martial law came after Poroshenko warned of a build-up of Russian forces near Ukraine’s borders, escalating the most dangerous crisis in years between the ex-Soviet neighbours.

Russian border patrol boats fired on, boarded and seized the three Ukrainian vessels, along with 24 sailors, in November off the coast of Crimea. The sailors are still being held in detention by Russian authorities.

Western governments accused Russia of acting illegally and US President Donald Trump cancelled a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires over the incident.

“The support and concrete actions of our international partners — their pressure on the Kremlin combined with a martial law — have stopped the worst scenario that the Russian Federation planned,” Poroshenko said.

“They didn’t let Putin cross the new red line,” he added.

The martial law was imposed in 10 regions that adjoin either Russia’s borders or areas controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, as well as along the coast of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Ukrainian armed forces were put on full combat readiness and replenished at the expense of the first-stage reserves.

Kiev also banned Russian men aged 16-60 from entering the country.

The entry was restricted for about 1,650 male citizens of Russia since November 30, the border service said Wednesday.

Relations between Moscow and Kiev have deteriorated since a pro-Western government came to power after the 2014 revolt against a pro-Russian leader, Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict pitting pro-Russian separatists against Ukrainian government forces is estimated to have claimed more than 10,000 lives.

After a maritime conflict with Moscow in the Black Sea in late November, Poroshenko accused Russia of having sharply raised its military presence on the border, with Ukraine warning of the threat of “full-scale war.”

Today, Ukrainian president announced the new sanctions against those involved in the aggression against Ukrainian ships.

Poroshenko said a draft decision on the application of sanctions was included in the agenda of the meeting.

“As we see the political support and participation of the State Duma in this process, a large number of State Duma deputies are included in the sanction list,” he stated, referring to the Russian parliament.

Poroshenko also said that one of the reasons to end the martial law was the presidential election that is scheduled for 31 March.

Campaigning and elections are banned under martial law, he explained.

Previously critics attacked the acting president, saying that he used the incident in the Sea of Azov and the martial law to improve his ratings. </s> Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko listens during a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed strengthening cooperation on Saturday in a telephone call that also addressed the need to resolve Ukraine’s eastern conflict through diplomacy, Poroshenko said in a statement.

“The two sides discussed strengthening the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States,” the statement said.

“Particular attention was paid to the settlement of the situation in the Donbass (in eastern Ukraine) and achieving peace via political and diplomatic means,” it said. </s> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, leads the National Security and Defence Council meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Ukraine's president says that the country has barred Russian men between 16 and 60 from traveling to the country. The move comes as the long-simmering conflict between the two nations escalated in the Black Sea on Sunday. President Petro Poroshenko has tweeted that the restrictions on Russian travelers have been taken in order to prevent the Russians from forming "private armies" fighting on Ukrainian soil. (Mykhailo Markiv, Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool) (Mykhailo Markiv) </s> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced the end of martial law in the country's border regions that was imposed last month after Russia seized Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea.

"Today, right now, at 2:00 p.m. martial law ends. This is my principal decision," Poroshenko said during a military cabinet meeting in Kyiv on December 26.

Poroshenko said he had reached the decision "based on an analysis of all the components of the security situation in the country."

On November 26, Ukraine's parliament backed Poroshenko's request to introduce martial law after Russian forces fired on Ukrainian ships and seized 24 Ukrainian nationals near the Kerch Strait.

The seamen remain in Russian custody and are facing criminal charges of illegally crossing Russia's border.

The European Union and the United States have said Russia's actions were illegal and have called on Moscow to immediately return the vessels and their crews to Ukraine.

The incident, during which a Russian vessel rammed a Ukrainian Navy tugboat, further escalated the conflict between the ex-Soviet neighbors that flared up in 2014 with Russia's occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Russia has provided military, economic, and political support to separatist militants in eastern Ukraine. About 10,300 people have been killed since early 2014 in that conflict, which the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled in November 2016 was "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."

The 30-day martial law was imposed in 10 regions, including those close to areas controlled by Russia-backed rebels in the east of the country, abutting the Russia-backed separatist Transdniester region in Moldova, and along the Sea of Azov coast.

Despite the lifting of martial law, tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain high. Top Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have claimed that Kyiv was preparing a "provocation" in the border area.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on December 24 that Russia was concerned Ukraine might "switch to full-scale combat actions within the next few days" or stage a provocation using "chemical-warfare agents."

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview published in Rossiiskaya Gazeta on December 26 that "leaders of ultrarightist groups from the U.S. have been training for months together with radical organizations in Ukraine."

"Feeling such support [from the United States], Poroshenko confidently resorts to provocative steps, including on the Ukrainian-Russian border," Patrushev said. "In the light of upcoming [Ukrainian presidential] elections, it can be predicted that new such actions with U.S. support could be expected in the near future."

Ukraine has said Russia is amassing military forces along the border, in the annexed Crimea region, and in the Black Sea area.

Speaking at a military event in Kyiv on December 1, Poroshenko said Russia has deployed "more than 80,000 troops, 1,400 artillery and multiple-rocket-launch systems, 900 tanks, 2,300 armored combat vehicles, 500 airplanes, and 300 helicopters" near the border.

During the National Security and Defense Council meeting on December 26, Poroshenko said "Ukraine will never halt the use of its Azov ports, including by military vessels."

With reporting by AFP, AP, UNIAN, and TASS </s> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered the creation of a body to prepare a lawsuit against Russia for damages caused by separatists whom Moscow supports in the Donbas region and for its illegal annexation of the Crimea Peninsula.

"The ongoing armed aggression of Russia brings to the Ukrainian soil new immeasurable human suffering every day, infrastructure is destroyed, enterprises and economic potential of the Donbas and Crimea are destroyed,” he wrote on August 1 on Facebook.

"Therefore, we should not hesitate even for a minute with the formation of Ukraine's consolidated claim to Russia to compensate for the damage inflicted," he said.

Poroshenko said he asked his cabinet to take steps for the “speedy creation” of an interagency coordinating body based on the law of reintegration adopted by Kyiv in January.

That law, he wrote, "clearly confirms Ukraine's devotion to a peaceful settlement and reflects my ideology of peaceful reintegration of the occupied region."

Moscow's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its military, political, and economic support for separatists in eastern Ukraine prompted the United States, the European Union, and others to impose sanctions on Russia.

More than 10,300 people have been killed since April 2014 in the conflict between Ukrainian forces and the Russia-backed separatists in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Although Moscow denies interfering in Ukraine's domestic affairs, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2016 determined the conflict to be "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."

At a summit earlier this month, Ukraine and the European Union, while agreeing on the need for reforms in Kyiv, also condemned Russia’s seizure of Crimea and its backing of the separatists.

On July 31, the EU expanded its sanctions against Moscow to include companies that helped build a bridge from Russia to Crimea.

"I am glad that my strategy was supported by the EU leaders during the Ukraine-EU summit, expressing their readiness to take the patronage of the restoration of the settlements of the Donbas," Poroshenko said in his statement.

It is not known how effective such a suit against Russia would be or whether Moscow would even acknowledge it.

Kyiv in the past has filed cases against Moscow with various international bodies with little success. In January 2017, Ukraine filed a case against Russia with the Court of Justice, the highest United Nations court.

Moscow in the past has rejected international rulings over its Ukraine-related actions, calling them "biased and politically motivated."

With reporting by Interfax and Unian
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko holds a press conference in Vinnytsia announcing the end of the anti-terror operation in Donbass in May. It will be replaced with a military force.