Ukrainian Parliament Adopts Law Permitting Foreign Troops to Enter Ukraine

Ukraine’s parliament, Verkhovna Rada, has adopted a law allowing the armed forces of foreign states to enter Ukrainian territory in 2016 to take part in multinational military exercises.

KIEV (Sputnik) – The legislation was supported by over 230 Rada members on Friday and will now go to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for signing.

Ukraine was gripped by a violent internal conflict last year, when Kiev launched a special military operation in April against independence supporters in the country’s southeast.

In February 2015, a ceasefire agreement was signed by the conflicting sides in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Article 10 of the Minsk agreement calls for the pullout of all foreign armed formations, military equipment and mercenaries from Ukraine.

As part of its security assistance program launched last year, the United States has sent several hundred military instructors to Ukraine.

Ukraine is an active participant of joint military exercises with NATO states, including the Saber Guardian/Rapid Trident-2015 and the naval drills Sea Breeze that took place earlier this year.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that NATO members must realize that military drills in Ukraine could undermine a peaceful settlement to the conflict in the southeast of the country.