Ukraine has brushed off strong European pressure and rejected talks with pro-Russian rebels on a truce to halt a bloody insurgency convulsing the ex-Soviet nation.
The unconditional stance reflects a new confidence in Kiev that it is on the verge of quashing an uprising it views as Moscow's retribution for the ouster of a Kremlin-backed leader and the decision to pursue a historic alliance with the West.
But it is also bound to frustrate EU leaders' push for a diplomatic solution as well as the Kremlin's own efforts to force Kiev to make compromises that would preserve the Russian-speaking east's links to Moscow.
"Now, any negotiations are possible only after the rebels completely lay down their arms," Defence Minister Valeriy Geletey said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Ukrainian forces have scored a string of surprise military successes since the weekend that forced most of the militias to retreat to the sprawling eastern industrial hubs of Donetsk and Lugansk - both capitals of their own "People's Republics".
President Petro Poroshenko has ordered his troops to blockade the insurgents inside the cities and cut them off from any further arms supplies.
The new Western-backed leader said during an unannounced visit to Slavyansk - a former rebel bastion reclaimed by Kiev on Saturday - that talks with the uprising's commanders were impossible because most were now hiding in Moscow.
Poroshenko told reporters he would only speak "to the real masters of (the easter region of) Donbass - the steel workers and miners, people who hold the most power" in the conflict zone.
But it was not immediately clear how he intended to force the militias to give up their three-month campaign to join Russian rule.
Lugansk separatist leader Valeriy Bolotov claimed his men had managed to actually push back Ukrainian troops from part of the Russian border city and receive fresh supplies of anti-aircraft and artillery guns.
Poroshenko tore up a 10-day ceasefire on July 1 because of uninterrupted rebel attacks that claimed the lives of more than 20 Ukrainian troops.
Uneasy EU leaders are hoping a new truce and a Kremlin promise not to meddle can take pressure off the bloc to adopt sweeping sanctions that could damage their own strong energy and financial bonds with Russia.
French President Francois Hollande said he intended to press Poroshenko on Wednesday during a joint call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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