15:08 09.09.2015

Poroshenko doesn't rule out revision of draft changes to Constitution dealing with decentralization if Russia doesn't fulfill Minsk agreements

3 min read
Poroshenko doesn't rule out revision of draft changes to Constitution dealing with decentralization if Russia doesn't fulfill Minsk agreements

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the draft changes to the Constitution dealing with the decentralization of power may be revised if Russia does not fulfill the Minsk agreements.

"If Moscow decides to bury the Minsk agreements, we will go back to the content of the changes to the Constitution. I am not going to speed up this process in any way," Poroshenko said at the Regional Development Council meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday.

He also said he believes there will be no final approval of the changes to the Constitution dealing with decentralization without progress in the political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Donbas.

"I really hope that those who were against it in the first reading will find arguments and vote for it in the second [reading]. However, everyone should understand [both in Ukraine and outside it] that there will be no final approval of the changes to the Constitution without clear progress in the political and diplomatic settlement," the president said.

Poroshenko said there is a need to do a lot of work, specifically, "postpone the fake elections called by the occupation authorities in the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by militants and ensure the release of hostages."

He emphasized again that the draft changes to the Constitution do not envisage the granting of any special status to Donbas. "I would like to dwell on Item 18 of the transition provisions. I emphasize: no matter how hard we try to deceive the people of Ukraine and no matter what the motives are of those who are trying to find in the draft Constitution something that is not there, a separate status for Donbas," the president said.

Moreover, Poroshenko said the draft document envisages the deletion from the Constitution of Item 16 of Article 92, which envisages the possibility of granting special status to specific cities under Ukrainian law.

The president recalled that the Ukrainian parliament has already adopted a law envisaging special local self-government procedures in some areas of Donbas.

"This law is valid for three years, of which one has already passed. Most articles of this law have now been suspended. They can only begin working when elections are conducted in accordance with Ukrainian legislation and OSCE standards in some areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions; after the election outcome is accepted by international monitors and after the occupation troops are withdrawn from the entire territory and after Ukraine regains control over the uncontrolled part of the Ukrainian-Russian border," Poroshenko said.

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