KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday declared the Russia-backed separatist republics in the east to be terrorist organizations, formally eliminating the possibility of holding peace talks with their representatives, as fighting escalated.
The move came after Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed the Ukrainian government to speak directly to the rebels in efforts to end the fighting that has killed about 5,100 people in eastern Ukraine since April, according to U.N. figures.
The Kiev government has long called the separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics “terrorists,” but now they can be subject to the counterterrorism law, said Oleksiy …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
