Ukraine committed to talks for settling crisis: President

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Friday voiced his commitment to settling the crisis in his country through political dialogue and negotiations.

"I am confident that negotiations will bring positive results," said Poroshenko at the 11th Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kiev.

In an effort to resolve the crisis in eastern regions through political means, Ukrainian authorities were ready to make concessions to independence-seeking insurgents, including granting a "special status" to some restive areas, Xinhua reported citing Poroshenko.

In addition, Ukraine was ready to start a comprehensive dialogue with Russia to examine the effects of the implementation of its association agreement with the European Union (EU), Poroshenko said.

"We will do our best for this, but Russia should also show its responsible behaviour," he said.

The 11th YES annual meeting opened Friday under the slogan "New Ukraine, new Europe, new world: building and defending."

The meeting, which used to be held at Livadiya Palace in Crimea, moved to Kiev after the peninsula's affiliation with Russia.

The three-day forum, which was jointly organised by the Yalta European Strategy group and Ukrainian media tycoon Victor Pinchuk, has attracted about 350 leading politicians, businessmen and public figures from more than 20 countries.

Present at the forum were, among others, Poroshenko, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliament president Martin Shulz, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski and former British prime minister Tony Blair.

The event, launched in 2004, is now one of the largest international conferences in Eastern Europe.