Members of the working group developing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine have proposed in the part on the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to recognize the right of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination within an independent Ukrainian state as a source of the special status of the Crimean autonomy as an integral part of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"Over the past year, a working group set up by the Constitutional Commission has made important changes to Section 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine. These changes should secure the inalienable right of the Crimean Tatar people as the indigenous people of Ukraine to self-determination as part of an independent Ukrainian state. The group proposes recognizing this right as a source of the special status of the Crimean autonomy as an integral component of a single Ukraine," Poroshenko said in Kyiv on Friday at a rally requiem dedicated to the memory of the victims of genocide against the Crimean Tatar people and the Fay of Struggle for the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People.

He also said that members of the working group suggest that in the event of a situation in Crimea that poses a real threat to the state sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine, the president is granted the right to "introduce in Crimea a special regime of governance by appointing a special state representative with simultaneous termination of the relevant powers of the authorities of the Crimean autonomy."

"We will not repeat the mistakes of the past. I expect that in the near future the working group will finally approve these proposals (there is enough time for this) and will forward them for consideration by the Constitutional Commission," he said.

Poroshenko also said that the suggestions of the working group also included the proposal to citizens residing in the Ukrainian Crimea, which will be freed from Russian occupation, to elect a representative body of the Crimean autonomy - the Crimean Council. According to the president, the group proposes to write out the specifics of the election of deputies representing the Crimean Tatar people in a separate law.

According to the head of state, the discussion in parliament on this issue will not be easy.

"But we must clearly formulate our position for the future, in which Crimea will certainly return to Ukraine. To achieve this goal, Ukraine will involve all political and legal diplomatic mechanisms," he said.

Poroshenko stressed that the introduction of the above changes to the Constitution of Ukraine on the self-determination of the Crimean Tatar people would significantly strengthen the country's position on restoring state sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula.

"We continue to work on the speedy return to Ukraine of all Ukrainian hostages from the occupied Donbas and Crimea, as well as political prisoners who are being held in Russian prisons," Poroshenko said.