The Ukrainian parliament, at a meeting on Tuesday, will consider tightening penalties for separatism and banning parties that are engaged in separatist activities, acting President and Verkhovna Rada Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov has said.

"Tomorrow the Verkhovna Rada as one of its first issues will consider a law strengthening criminal liability for separatism and other crimes against the state. According to Ukrainian legislation, the question will be raised to ban the activity of political parties and public organizations that support separatism and work against their own state," he said in a televised address in Kyiv on Monday.