MINSK (Sputnik) — Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko introduced to the country's parliament the bill on reintegration of Donbass earlier on Wednesday. According to the parliaments' website, "the draft bill on characteristic features of the state policy regarding ensuring Ukraine's sovereignty over temporally occupied territories in Donetsk and Lugansk regions" has been determined by the Ukrainian president as an urgent one.
"The bill on the restoration of sovereignty over Donbass, submitted today to the Verkhovna Rada, completely contradicts the Minsk agreements, further distances Donbass from Ukraine and blocks the Minsk process," Gryzlov told reporters.
"The special status of Donbass is the essential condition for the political settlement in Ukraine," Gryzlov pointed out.
Kiev began a military campaign in the Donbass region in 2014, after the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) refused to recognize the new government. In February 2015, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the conflicting sides in Minsk but the situation in the region remained tense.
