In an interview with the Guardian and four other European newspapers on Friday, Poroshenko said separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions had carried out "more than 150 attacks" against government troops since a ceasefire began on 20 June. Five more Ukrainian soldiers died on Friday, he said.
"I think now Russia has done nothing (to end the violence)," he said.
"Russia is the leader of these banned groups. We are talking of Russian citizens, Russian officers, Russian soldiers of fortune." He characterised the Kremlin's strategy in Ukraine as "not very pragmatic" and "very emotional".
While Poroshenko signed the outstanding chapters of a historic association agreement with the EU, pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian sides in Donetsk announced that they had extended a ceasefire for three days to allow talks to continue.
The Brussels deal brings Ukraine significantly closer to European markets and the EU – though with no prospect of eventual membership. Russia warned that the move would have "grave consequences". One Putin adviser, Sergei Glazyev, called Poroshenko a "Nazi".
Poroshenko told the Guardian that Ukraine had paid "a very high price" for its pro-European choice. "We want to modernise our country. We want to introduce freedom, democracy and European values. Somebody doesn't like that. Someone attacks us for that," he lamented.
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