(VOVworld) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Tuesday for a local election "under Ukrainian law" in Ukraine’s eastern region.

Ukrainian President calls for new elections in the east

Poroshenko said during an emergency meeting of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council that the Council is ready to clearly define the area where these elections will be held in accordance with Ukrainian law. Poroshenko accused separatists of violating a ceasefire agreement signed in the Belarus capital of Minsk, and asked the Council and the Ukraine parliament to scrap a law giving "special status" to areas in the east controlled by rebels. Poroshenko proposed to create a free economic zone in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions that will have special trade relations with Russia and the European Union.

Meanwhile, Alexander Zakharchenko, who won last Sunday’s controversial elections, was sworn in Tuesday as leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.