DHAKA: Ukraine's new president has called for a dialogue with representatives of the country's east that has been swept by a separatist insurgency, but insisted he will still not talk with rebels, who he described as "gangsters and killers".

In a combative inaugural speech on Saturday, Petro Poroshenko also vowed that Ukraine would not give up Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from it in March.

"Crimea was, is, and will be Ukrainian," Poroshenko said in an emotional address after his swearing-in .

His speech drew an ovation from guests at a ceremony attended by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, US Vice President Joe Biden and senior EU officials.

He stressed the unity of Ukraine, which is fighting a pro-Russian separatist uprising in the east, and said it would not become a federalised state as advocated by Moscow.

Poroshenko, 48, also said he intended very soon to sign the economic part of an association agreement with the European Union, as a first step towards full membership.

He called on the armed groups in the east to lay down their arms and promised an amnesty "for those who do not have blood on their hands'.'

That appeared to apply both to separatist, pro-Russia fighters in the country's east and to nationalist groups that oppose them.

Poroshenko also promised dialogue with citizens in the eastern regions, but excluded the rebels.

"Talking to gangsters and killers is not our avenue,'' he said. He also called for early regional elections in the east.

Al Jazeera's Kim Vinnel, reporting from Donetsk, said people there are divided over whether Poroshenko can create any real change in the east.

"Many people have for a long time felt alienated by Kiev," she said.

The chairman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, dismissed Poroshenko's offer to call regional elections.

He told Al Jazeera that Donetsk is already in talks about becoming a part of the Russian Federation and that the fight in the east will continue until Ukrainian troops withdraw.

Source: Al-Jazeera

BDST: 0933 HRS, JUN 08, 2014