Constitutional Changes Stipulate No Special Status for Donbass - Poroshenko

"Not a single hint at federalization" - Petro Poroshenko ruled out changing Ukraine's unitary system. He said he believed that his proposed changes did not breach the Minsk agreements.

KIEV (Sputnik) – The proposed changes to the Ukrainian Constitution do not foresee a special status for the eastern Ukrainian regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Thursday.

“There isn’t a single hint on federalization. Ukraine has, is, and will be a unitary state. The project in changes does not foresee and should not foresee any special status for Donbass, it simply isn’t there. The project only allows for the possibility of creating special local self-management in specific territorial units in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, which is defined by separate legislation,” Poroshenko said during a parliament session.

“I’m convinced that this norm does not exceed the frameworks of the peace agreement [Minsk reconciliation agreements],” Poroshenko added.

The Ukrainian parliament website reported earlier on Thursday that Poroshenko submitted draft proposals on changes to the country's Constitution, suggesting that the status of the Donbass region would be defined by a special law.

On February 12, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed on a set of measures, called the Minsk agreements, aimed at stopping the military confrontation between Kiev forces and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine. The measures, among other points, stipulate a requirement of constitutional reforms in Ukraine, and the granting of special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions by the end of 2015.

In response to Poroshenko's move, a negotiator for the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, Vladislav Deinego, said that proposals made to Ukraine’s Constitution have nothing in common with the Minsk agreements.