A new agreement approved by Ukraine’s parliament to grant limited autonomy to eastern areas of the country now under the control of Russian-backed rebels is being praised by Moscow and gives new hope to achieving peace in the region.
A spokesman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the measure “a step in the right direction.” Some members of Ukraine’s parliament have vowed to fight the legislation, which they say is a clear case of the country giving in too easily to Moscow.
The new law – which also included a sweeping trade and political deal with the European Union – was part of recent ceasefire talks aimed at reducing tensions in the region between separatists and the Ukrainian military.
The goal of the law was explained Iryna Gerashchenko, an aide to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. “It means that for some districts that are under the control of gunmen, the Ukrainian government is giving them a special chance for local self-governance to resolve the problem in a nonmilitary manner.”
But governing officials in the troubled Donetsk region are refusing to recognize any political decisions that do not originate from their own ruling body.
“We have our own Supreme Council, and we will be deciding for ourselves how and when to hold elections,” said Alexander Zakharchenko, Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “No elections organized by Ukraine are going to be held here.”
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