MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) - The bill reintegrating Donbas passed by Ukrainian parliament aims to reaffirm Kyiv's line to resolve the problem through the use of force, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"In particular, it declares the reformatting of the so-called antiterrorist operation into a military one and handover of control over it to the military who will subordinate all other forces. For these purposes, the president of Ukraine has approved the formation of some 'joint operations headquarters' allowed to plan and use the armed forces against civilian population of the country's own territory, not necessarily in the southeast alone, without formal imposition of martial law. Essentially Poroshenko is gaining unlimited, close-to-dictatorial powers to suppress dissent and discontent. This cannot be called other than a preparation for a new war," the ministry said in a comment release on Thursday.
"Kyiv is burying the agreements reached in Minsk and the whole available mechanism of searching for mutually acceptable solutions to the domestic Ukrainian crisis, including the 'Normandy format,'" the ministry said.