Separatists in eastern Ukraine said Monday that attempts to blockade them in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk will destroy any hopes for a political solution, dpa reported. "We are ready for this, but, in effect, it will bury all peace initiatives that have been issued earlier," Andrei Purgin, a leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said, the Interfax news agency reported. Ukrainian officials announced a total blockade of the two cities over the weekend, after government forces took the separatist stronghold of Sloviansk and several other cities in the Donetsk region.
