MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Ukrainian Parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada could take a final vote selecting particular areas in the southeast of the country (Donbas) that will be granted special status as early as the start of next week, the Russian Kommersant daily reports.
Under the Minsk agreements signed on February 12, the Verkhovna Rada needs to come up with a list of Donbas areas that will be given a special economic and political status no later than 30 days after the deal was signed, or by March 14.
A member of the Verkhovna Rada from the party of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (Petro Poroshenko Bloc) told Kommersant on Saturday that the Ukrainian parliament will take a vote on the issue on March 17 or 18.
According to the council's deputy secretary, Mykhaylo Koval, the special status will not apply to areas that were captured by Donbas militia after September 19, 2014.
A law granting "special status" to parts of the Donbas self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) was introduced by Kiev in the fall of 2014, following peace talks in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, but was abolished shortly after.
The most recent Minsk talks on Ukraine reconciliation resulted in a number of agreements aimed at de-escalating tensions in Donbas. The deal also stipulates Kiev's decentralization of power ahead of wider constitutional reforms in the country.
