- Rada today adopted the Donbass reintegration bill. Since the beginning of the week, lawmakers considered nearly 700 amendments to it, accepting only one. The bill does not mention the Minsk agreements. We'll get the details of the discussion from our staff reporter in Kiev, Vladimir Sinelnikov. He's on live with us right now. Vladimir, hello. Which parties supported the bill? And why do the opposing lawmakers insist that it's harmful for Ukraine and for Donbass?
- Good day! The parties that voted in favor are those that are formally part of the ruling coalition. Those are Petr Poroshenko's bloc, and National Front, although, formally, there is no ruling coalition. Also, they were Oleg Lyasko's radicals, and a large number of non-fractional or independent deputies that don't belong to any party. The 280 votes that this bill got signifies that President Poroshenko received wide support. The Donbass reintegration bill is a completely misleading title. Officially it's titled "On the peculiarities of state policy on the restoration of the state sovereignty of Ukraine over the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions".
If we were to summarize this law, then it's a law about not respecting the Minsk agreements. Firstly, it defines Russia as an aggressor, and the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics as territories temporarily occupied by Russia. The Donetsk and Lugansk Republics that used to be labeled as terrorist organizations, and now they're seen as collaborators with the occupants, so as having committed state treason. The gist of the law is that Verkhovnaya Rada gave the President the right to declare martial law in any part of the country, or in all of Ukraine. Without the mandatory, as is required by the Constitution, approval by the Verkhovnaya Rada of a decree of the martial law declaration. So essentially, it's a law of military dictatorship of Petr Poroshenko.
This law is mostly for internal consumption. Even though Ukraine declares Russia as the aggressor country, and claims that it's at war with Russia, it will not conduct any military actions nor will it additionally limit any trade with Russia. Trade with Donetsk and Lugansk will be fully controlled by the military administration. It all just boils down to the President being able to do away with political or non-political opposition. On the pretext of conducting military actions against the aggressor. Studio.
- Yes, Vladimir. Our staff reporter Vladimir Sinelnikov with the latest news from Kiev.
