Ukraine Decentralization May Now Be on the Table - After Year of Civil War

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that there are a number of issues which will not be affected by decentralization – the issue of defense, national security, foreign policies, fight against corruption, protection of rights and freedoms regarding guaranteeing sovereignty and territorial integrity.

KIEV (Sputnik) – Kiev is ready to launch a referendum regarding Ukraine’s state structure, President Petro Poroshenko said Monday.

"I am ready to launch a referendum on state structure, if you [constitutional commission] would consider it necessary," Poroshenko said during the commission's first session.

The newly established constitutional commission of Ukraine gathered for its first session on Monday, April 6, to develop a project for the decentralization of powers in Ukraine.

"There is a number of issues which will not be affected by decentralization – the issue of defense, national security, foreign policies, fight against corruption, protection of rights and freedoms regarding guaranteeing sovereignty and territorial integrity," Poroshenko said.

“I am welcoming specialists, legal experts, who represent juridical and science institutions of different regions, which is very important. I am welcoming envoys from Donbass, Donetsk, representatives of Kharkiv, Lviv, Kiev, Mariupol, Odessa. I think it is very important that opinions of all regions are represented very well in our constitutional commission,” Poroshenko added.

According to the president, around 90 percent of Ukrainians support the "unity of the country.

On February 12, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany agreed on a set of measures to stop the military confrontation between Kiev forces and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine.

The agreement stipulated the decentralization of power, and constitutional reforms in the country, among other points.

The leaders of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which refused to recognize legitimacy of the new Ukrainian government after a coup, have repeatedly urged Kiev to grant them more autonomy.