The Ukrainian government has taken initial steps to defuse the crisis in Ukraine’s eastern regions, implementing the agreements reached during the four-way meeting of top diplomats from Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and Russia in Geneva on April 17, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reports.
During the quadrilateral meeting it was agreed that all illegal groups in Ukraine would end their occupation of official buildings and give up their weapons. However, Kremlin-backed separatists say they are not bound by the Geneva agreement. They still occupy Donetsk’s regional administration building, among other government buildings in the region, and are demanding the resignation of the Ukraine’s new government.
For its part, the far-right militant group Right Sector in Zhytomyr Oblast agreed to voluntarily surrender to the Ukrainian Security Service 21 Molotov cocktails and two 50-liter drums with a ready incendiary, the security service’s press center reported on Saturday evening. The transfer took place on April 19, it said.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry said the “active stage” of Ukraine’s anti-terrorist operation has been suspended. But it will continue to provide security from armed separatists and prevent civilian casualties, it said.
Ukraine’s government also came up with a draft law on an amnesty for participants in separatist demonstrations in the country’s eastern regions, which would apply to those who surrender weapons and free seized administrative buildings. Those suspected of committing serious crimes will not be granted amnesty under the draft law.
Earlier the government approved the decision “On organizing the discussion of amendments to the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine on decentralization of state power.”
The concept of local administrative reform was included in the agenda, as the government approved the decision to work out the large-scale reform and decentralization of power in the country on April 1. The bill would significantly expand the powers of local authorities.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said reforms aimed at the decentralization of the country’s administration will be outlined in the new edition of the Ukrainian Constitution.
To control the situation in Ukraine’s vulnerable east, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine will deploy its deputy mission head to eastern regions to draw up practical modules for the implementation of the Geneva agreement.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected].
