Poroshenko
© Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko
The newly-adopted Ukrainian law on 'restoring sovereignty over the Donetsk and Lugansk regions' shows that Kiev is determined to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine by force, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The law grants Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko "unlimited powers to silence dissent, similar to those of a dictator," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "It cannot be described otherwise than as preparation for a new war," it added.

The law calls Russia an "aggressor" and defines the authorities of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics as "occupying administrations." The ministry said the law constitutes Kiev's attempt to shun responsibility for the destruction of eastern Ukraine and the suffering of its people wrought by the Kiev-launched military operation. The Ukrainian government prefers seeking to shift the blame to Russia, the ministry added.

The new law also disregards the Minsk Agreements that had been universally recognized as the basis for the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, with no alternative. The legislation in fact would not lead to any "re-integration" of eastern Ukrainian territories but would instead only deepen the rift in Ukrainian society and push the people of Donbass further away from Kiev, the ministry argued.