KYIV. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The law which aims to restore Ukrainian sovereignty over the occupied part of Donbas violates none of the country's international obligations, including the Minsk agreements to settle the situation in the region, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
"This law by no means violates any of Ukraine's international obligations, including the Minsk agreements, as being claimed by Russian Federation to justify its reluctance, open sabotage of the implementation of the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko said at a Military Cabinet meeting in Kyiv on Tuesday before signing the bill.
This is a framework document and requires further legislative support, he said.
"It requires further legislative framework for the activities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and of other law enforcement units so that we can improve the legal mechanisms of restoring our country's territorial integrity. And this work will continue," Poroshenko said.
The law defines Russia as an aggressor state, the president said. "Why is this law so important? On the one hand, this law reflects my strategy as president, as the supreme commander-in-chief, to restore Ukrainian sovereignty over the occupied territories. In this law we qualify the Russian Federation as an aggressor state. This is solidified at the legislative level," Poroshenko said.
The law substantially reinforces the legal framework for the use of armed forces and other law enforcement forces to defend the country, the president said.
"At the same time, this law determines and establishes the main parameters for the protection of rights and freedoms of civilian population, and it is essential that this law provides for a legal mechanism, including politically-diplomatically, of retaking [control over] these territories," Poroshenko said.