Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Photo: ukrnews.today

(VOVworld)- On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed into law a bill amending Ukraine's law and granting special status to certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The bill was previously approved by the Ukrainian Parliament but condemned by Moscow and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republic.
According to this bill, some areas in the Donbass region will be granted “special status” after a new election is conducted in accordance with the Ukrainian constitution. During a phone conversation on Wednesday with German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed his deep concerns over Donetsk and Lugansk being declared “temporarily occupied” by the Ukrainian government, saying it was contrary to the Minsk agreement. He added that the move could lead to a new spiral of chaos in southeast Ukraine. The two ministers agreed to step up efforts to implement the Minsk agreement.