Facts

Verkhovna Rada speaker expects to sign Donbas bill 'in about 3 days,' sure president will sign it

Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy has said that he is confident Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will sign the bill on specifics of state policy to ensure the state sovereignty of Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that the parliament passed on Thursday.

"I am deeply convinced that any possibility that the document could be vetoed is out of question. The president will sign it within the timeframe envisaged by the Constitution, and it will become law in the near future," Parubiy said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The relevant Verkhovna Rada committee will fine-tune all amendments to the bill, while the judicial department of parliament's executive office will read it closely, after which the document will be submitted to the parliament speaker to be signed, he said.

"I think that I will have the opportunity to sign it in about three days," Parubiy said.

The legislation changed greatly as the Verkhovna Rada committee worked on it following its submission by the president, he said.

"The Verkhovna Rada put foward its suggestions and amendments. We made the document more hardline. It does not mention the Minsk Agreements. But it is out of the question that the president could veto the document," he said.

As concerns international relations, Parubiy said that "this bill is certainly acceptable and non-critical for our partners in the U.S. and the EU."

"And Russia (which is evident from Russian channels) was boiling with anger. Russia is scared that, among other steps, the adopted legislation envisages the possibility of conducting a military operation in the occupied territories," he said.

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