Ukraine’s President promised on Wednesday to introduce a Bill to Parliament as early as next week that would offer greater autonomy to rebellious regions in the pro-Russia east, where separatists have been battling Government troops for almost five months.
But Petro Poroshenko said the regions would remain part of Ukraine and rejected the idea of federalisation, something both Russia and pro-Moscow separatists have continued to push for even after a cease-fire agreement took effect on Friday.
The agreement, which was reached in Belarus, “envisages the restoration and preservation of Ukrainian sovereignty over the entire territory of Donbas, including the part that is temporarily under control of the rebels,” Poroshenko said during a televised Cabinet meeting.
“Ukraine has made no concessions with regards to its territorial integrity.”
Poroshenko said that 70 per cent of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory had been withdrawn since the cease-fire began Friday. He also said that 700 Ukrainian prisoners had been freed from rebel captivity, and expressed hope that another 500 would be freed by the end of the week.
Ukraine and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of fueling the pro-Russian separatists with arms, expertise, and even its own troops, something Russia denies.