Final decision on decentralization to depend on Donbas developments, Russia's adherence to Minsk deal – Poroshenko

"Today's vote is not final but it will give Ukrainian diplomacy a vast field for maneuver. And the final decision, due at the end of the year when 300 votes are needed, I can reassure you my dear fellow citizens, will depend on how the situation in Donbas evolves in these few months and on how Russia implements the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko said in a televised address on Monday. He stressed that the constitutional changes which passed a first reading in parliament on Monday envision no special status for Donbas. "This, in my opinion, is just a cliche which has become for certain political forces an element of a black PR-campaign against the constitutional changes, against the president," the president said. "Furthermore, we are removing Article 92 from our current Constitution, which envisions a theoretical possibility of proclaiming a special status for specific towns. So that there is not even a slightest legal loop for the parade of sovereignties," Poroshenko said.