Juncker says will visit Ukraine on first foreign trip

(BRUSSELS) - New European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday he would visit Kiev on his first trip outside the European Union, as the peace plan in Ukraine hung by a thread.

"I will be going to the Ukraine, I don't yet know when," Juncker told a press conference. "I promised the Ukrainian president (Petro Poroshenko) my first bilateral outside the EU will be in Kiev."

The ceasefire in Ukraine looked precarious Wednesday after Poroshenko accused pro-Russian rebels of endangering the peace process and ordered troop reinforcements to eastern cities.

In another sign of how far apart the two sides are, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced he was cutting the rebel-held Donetsk and Lugansk regions off from central government subsidies, so as not to finance "terrorists."

The rebels staged elections Sunday in the areas they control in eastern Ukraine in defiance of the EU and the United States which said the vote was illegal, would not be recognised and undermined peace efforts.

Some 4,000 people have died since fighting broke out in April after Russia annexed the Crimea, with Moscow said by the West to be backing the rebels with weapons and training.

Moscow rejects the allegations and says the conflict is purely between the government in Kiev and the rebels.

The EU has followed the US lead in imposing tough economic sanctions against Russia for its role in the crisis.

Asked if the rebel polls, which threaten to seal the country's divisions, meant sanctions should now be stepped up, Juncker said he thought they would remain unchanged for the moment and this was not a decision for today.

He reiterated, however, the EU position that sanctions depend on developments on the ground.

Juncker said he did not want to complicate EU diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the crisis that has brewed since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March.

"I am not the type of person who has to jump at this issue. In my opinion there are frequently too many cooks who spoil the broth in Europe," Juncker said.

"There are collegues in the Commission and the (European) Council who are in charge of these issues but I will talk to everybody who would like to talk to me."