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Ukraine’s Zelensky signs law prolonging special status of Donbass

The Ukrainian parliament approved the aforementioned law on December 12

© Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

KIEV, December 18. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has signed a law prolonging the special status of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions until the end of 2020, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) informed on its website on Wednesday.

"[The law] has been returned with the president’s signature," the message informs.

The Ukrainian parliament approved the aforementioned law on December 12. The Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada said in its comments on the need for the law’s extension that "its adoption signifies the commitment to resolve the Donbass problem peacefully already demonstrated by President Vladimir Zelensky during the Normandy Four meeting."

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The law "On the Special Status of Local Self-Government in Some Districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions" has been in effect since October 18, 2014 and the Ukrainian lawmakers have numerously prolonged it. Under its previous version, it was due to expire on December 31, 2019.

The document stipulates that the provisions on the special status will come into effect after democratic elections are held on the Donbass territories uncontrolled by Kiev and troops are pulled out from the region. Under the Minsk Package of Agreements on settling the situation in eastern Ukraine, the ex-Soviet republic is required to hold a constitutional reform and permanently seal the Donbass special self-governance status in its Fundamental Law. However, this has not been done as of yet. The law on the special status passed by the Verkhovna Rada has been placed on hold after the Ukrainian lawmakers made amendments that contradicted the Minsk accords.

Zelensky said at a news briefing after the summit of the Normandy Four (Russia, France, Germany, Ukraine) leaders in Paris that the law on the special status of Donbass will be extended for one year. The communique adopted at the end of the summit states that Ukraine agrees to grant Donbass a permanent special status.

As Head of the pro-presidential Servant of the People party Alexander Kornienko said earlier, the Ukrainian lawmakers are planning to draft and adopt a new law on the Donbass special status in 2020, which may take about a year. He assured that the new law "will be agreed with all the parties" but failed to specify them.

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