Ukraine's first step toward giving rebels self rule

Kiev: Ukraine's parliament took the first step today toward granting temporary self-rule to pro-Russian rebels under a change to the constitution the West hopes can end one of Europe's deadliest wars in recent years.

The divisive issue came to the floor on the day lawmakers also vote on belt-tightening measures needed for the quick release of a USD five-billion IMF payment that could spare cash-strapped Kiev from slipping into default.

The sudden flurry of activity led visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to call today "yet another historic day" in a war-torn country that has seen 6,500 people killed since the overthrow of its Russian-backed leadership in February 2014. Nuland will meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko later today to reassure him of Washington's backing and continued focus on the government's 15-month fight against separatists in the shattered industrial east.

The idea of granting autonomous status to rebel-run parts of Ukraine's east for the coming three years has struck a note of disquiet among many lawmakers and much of the Kiev media.

But it was inscribed in a truce agreement that Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on under strong pressure from the leaders of Germany and France in February.

Lawmakers today voted by a commanding 288-57 majority to ask Ukraine's constitutional court to rule whether such changes to the basic law were legal.

The court must weigh in on the issue before any formal vote is held in the weeks or months to come.

Both Washington and its EU allies believe that partial self-rule could satisfy the insurgents and remove any arguments Russia may have for arming and funding them -- support Moscow firmly denies ever giving.

But Leonid Yemets of parliament's pro-government People's Front party said he and other top lawmakers had told Nuland her logic was flawed because it failed to take ongoing hostilities into account.