Ukraine's parliament granted temporary self-rule to pro-Russian separatists who have taken over parts of the east on Tuesday, hours before parliament also ratified a landmark agreement to strengthen ties with the European Union.
As part of a ceasefire deal reached Sept. 5, the Ukrainian parliament agreed to grant three years of self-rule to the rebel-controlled "people's republics" in eastern Ukraine, according to The Moscow Times.
The bill allows local elections to be held in November and regional control over police forces and other infrastructure, the Associated Press reported.
A second bill grants amnesty to some of the separatists who have waged a five-month war against the Ukrainian government following the ousting of Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych. But those who tried to kill government troops, or suspected of murder and rape among other crimes, are excluded from amnesty.
This means most of the insurgents will not receive amnesty under the new bill, the AP reported.
Later Tuesday, Ukraine's parliament in Kiev and the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, ratified an unprecedented agreement over a video conference.
The deal, long denounced by Russia, strengthens economic and political ties between the EU and Ukraine, lifting trade barriers on imports from the EU into the ex-Soviet Union republic.
"Since World War II, not a single nation has paid such a high price for their right to be European," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said according to the AP.
"The European Parliament supports Ukraine in its European vocation," said EU Parliament President Martin Schulz. "The European Parliament will continue defending a united and sovereign Ukraine."
Russia says such a deal would lessen Ukrainian demand for Russian goods and bombard the country with cheaper EU goods sent from Ukraine, the AP reported.
Ukraine has long sought to lean more towards the West and away from what it says is Russia's attempt to recreate the Soviet Union.
The agreement is considered what sparked the Ukrainian crisis after Yanukovych refused to sign it earlier this year. His refusal was followed by months of protests and his eventual ousting, which was then followed by Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March.
A pro-Russian uprising sprang up in April, with Ukrainian forces battling the insurgents ever since.
