You're reading: Poroshenko: Local elections in Donbas should be held in line with Ukrainian legislation

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that local elections in Donetsk and Luhansk regions should be held only in accordance with Ukrainian legislation. 

“The Minsk agreement are also a political dialogue that helps hold free local elections on the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in accordance with Ukrainian legislation,” he told reporters during his visit to Moldova on Thursday.

Poroshenko said that the holding of these elections and the establishment of a political dialogue would help immediately switch to the settlement of economic problems in the region.

“We need to create a free economic zone, and together with our partners we should create a special investment fund to rebuild Donbas and draft a program for the creation of new jobs, as 70% of the industry in Donbas is not operating,” Poroshenko said.

In addition, he noted the importance of addressing a humanitarian catastrophe, “to which militants brought millions of Ukrainians who live in the temporarily occupied territories.”