"The fact is that, although it still has a very long way to go, Ukraine has changed enormously, and mostly for the better, in the last two years." Read more:
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Poroshenko Determined Kyiv Will Control Crimea, Separatist Territories
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Ukraine will regain its control over the Russia-annexed region of Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian territory currently controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
In a statement to mark the Unity Day holiday on January 22, Poroshenko said the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian national flag "will return to their legal and natural places in Donetsk and Luhansk, in Simferopol and Sevastopol."
Unity Day marks the 1919 Unification Act of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the short-lived West Ukrainian People's Republic in Kyiv.
Earlier on January 22, Poroshenko's administration distributed a statement the president made speaking to CNN saying that Kyiv expects to receive a tranche of $7 billion from the International Monetary Fund.