Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko says he has ordered the army to take "decisive actions" this week to regain control of the Ukrainian-Russian frontier.
In an address Monday to top security officials, Mr. Poroshenko said he expects the military push to last no more than a week, and he said it will pave the way for a truce and peace talks with pro-Russian separatists.
He also said Ukrainian troops have regained control of a little more than 10 percent of the border, and that checkpoints are in place aimed at stopping the flow of Russian military hardware into his country.
The Poroshenko address came hours after Russian energy giant Gazprom cut natural gas shipments to its energy dependent neighbor, after Kyiv missed a deadline to paydown a nearly $2 billion energy debt.
Ukraine, which showed no public signs Monday of softening its demands, says it has almost 14 billion cubic meters of gas in underground storage -- enough to meet its needs until December.