Ukraine passes draft bill to grant east regions more autonomy

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament approved a draft law on Thursday to grant two separatist regions greater autonomy, a first step towards meeting the demands of a ceasefire agreement on the status of the pro-Russian self-styled "people's republics".

President Petro Poroshenko submitted the bill to parliament after coming under pressure from Western leaders to grant the regions some powers of self-rule as part of the ceasefire deal agreed in the Belarussian capital Minsk in February.