KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has submitted a bill to the parliament that outlines the boundaries of particular districts in the breakaway eastern regions that could be granted "special status" within Ukraine.
The draft law was entered Saturday into the database of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.
The area, to which the special status law could potentially be applied, was determined Thursday by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. The Ukrainian parliament may reportedly vote on it next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Security Council's Deputy Secretary Mykhaylo Koval said, however, that the special status law will not apply to areas captured by anti-government militia after September 19, 2014.
A law granting "special status" to parts of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics 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 deescalating tensions in the country. The deal is specifically aimed at devolving powers to local authorities and amending the constitution with the end goal of decentralizing Ukraine.
