Ukraine’s parliament approved a draft law on Thursday to grant two separatist regions greater autonomy, a first step towards meeting the demands of a cease-fire agreement on the status of the pro-Russian self-styled “people’s republics.”
President Petro Poroshenko submitted the bill to parliament after coming under pressure from Western leaders to grant the regions some powers of self-rule as part of the cease-fire deal agreed in the Belarussian capital Minsk in February.
If the courts decide the law is constitutional, at least 300 of the 450 parliamentary deputies will need to back the bill in its final reading. The next session will …read more
Source: Voice of America
