Ukraine president to be at World Cup final in Rio

SAO PAULO — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko plans to be at the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, Brazil's Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

A ministry press officer said Poroshenko might not arrive in time for the pre-game lunch Sunday to be hosted by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff for several heads of state.

But the press officer said Poroshenko "has confirmed he will be at the stadium to watch Germany and Argentina play the final." Citing ministry rules, the press officer would not allow his name to be used.

Before the game, Rousseff will offer a lunch for several leaders, including Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, South African President Jacob Zuma and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The press officer said he did not have information on the seating arrangements at the stadium or at the lunch. "So I can't tell you where Putin, Poroshenko and Merkel will be sitting. It will be interesting to see," he said.

Those three and French President Francois Hollande have been the key European leaders in trying to bring the conflict in Ukraine to an end.

Russia and Ukraine have been in crisis since the Ukrainian revolution and the March annexation by Russia of most of the Crimea, internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Fighting between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian government troops has killed more than 400 people in eastern Ukraine, while tens of thousands have fled their homes, in many cases crossing the border into Russia.

The rhetoric on both sides is increasingly intransigent.

On yesterday, the European Union moved to impose sanctions on 11 leaders of the pro-Moscow rebellion. The names published in the EU's Official Journal brought the total of people subject to the bloc's Ukraine-related sanctions to 72, along with two companies whose EU-based assets have been ordered frozen.