Ukraine orders troops to four areas, proposes abolition of special-status law

KYIV, Ukraine, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Army reinforcements are heading for key southern and eastern Ukrainian cities, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered Tuesday.

He said, after a meeting with the country’s Security and Defense Council, the troops were sent to the cities of Mariupol, Berdyansk and Kharkiv, and to the northern Luhansk region, in the event of a new offensive by pro-Russian separatists.

In the meeting, Poroshenko proposed scrapping a single provision of an accord reached Sept. 5 in Minsk, Belarus, calling for the abolition of a law giving special status, including self-rule, to the rebel-held Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Those areas held presidential elections Sunday, derided by Ukraine and by Western countries as illegitimate, and installed so-called presidents in swearing-in ceremonies Tuesday.

“I want to emphasize that it (the special status law) does not mean the cancellation of Minsk agreements. On the contrary, we will be ready to adopt a new law under the circumstances where we will see a ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops from the line of contact … in accordance with the Minsk Protocol of September 5,” Poroshenko said.

A draft law to abolish the special status of Luhansk and Donetsk has already been sent to Ukraine’s Parliament.

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