Ukraine Offers Rebel East Three Years of Limited Self-Rule

Ukraine's president on Monday offered parts of the ex-Soviet country's separatist east limited self-rule for three years under the terms of a peace plan reached with Russia.

Petro Poroshenko's official website said the pro-Western leader told top lawmakers the proposal would be part of a broader deal with pro-Russian rebels signed on September 5.

He intended to formally submit it to parliament on Tuesday.

The bill also extends the right of people in the rebel-held Lugansk and Donetsk regions to use Russian in state institutions and conduct local elections on November 9, according to media reports.

The bill further permits the regions to "strengthen good neighborly relations" between local authorities and their counterparts in Russia.

It protects from criminal prosecution "participants of events in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions" -- appearing to apply to both the insurgents and Ukrainian government troops -- and allows regional councils to appoint local judges and prosecutors.

The bill also promises to help restore damaged infrastructure and to provide social an economic assistance to particularly hard-hit areas.

Poroshenko had promised to offer parts of the war-torn industrial east broader autonomy under the terms of the truce agreed earlier this month with the Kremlin and two separatist leaders.

He urged parliamentary faction leaders Monday to quickly back his efforts to end five months of fighting that have killed more than 2,700 people and forced more than half a million from their homes.

Poroshenko said his proposals guaranteed "the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of our state".

The presidential website said the three years of limited self-rule would give his government a chance to implement "deep-rooted decentralization, which will be the subject of corresponding constitutional changes."