A woman raises her hands with handcuffs as she wears a Statue of Liberty suit during a protest in front of the US Embassy in central Moscow on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

The Ukrainian and European parliaments on Tuesday simultaneously ratified a landmark pact at the heart of the ex-Soviet country's bloodiest crisis since independence.

The vote on an accord that decisively steers Ukraine toward the West came just moments after parliament agreed to offer limited self-rule to the pro-Russian east to try to end a bloody five-month separatist uprising.

But renewed deadly fighting in the east has heaped further pressure on a fragile truce, and raised new questions about whether President Petro Poroshenko will succeed in keeping his splintered country together.

Poroshenko said the adoption of the 1,200-page cooperation agreement with the EU was Ukraine's first step toward membership of the 28-nation bloc. "Tell me, who will now dare to shut Ukraine's doors to Europe?" the leader said.

"Who will be against our future membership of the EU, toward which today we are taking our first but very decisive step?"

Lawmakers rose for a rousing rendition of the national anthem sung with their right hands placed on their hearts. European MPs in Strasbourg also all stood and cheered.

But the occasion was muted by the two sides' decision to delay until 2016 the implementation of a free trade deal that would pull Ukraine out of a rival union being built by the Kremlin.

The rejection of the same EU association agreement deal by Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in November triggered the bloody chain of events that led to his February ouster and Russia's subsequent seizure of Crimea peninsula.

Lawmakers in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada parliament also Tuesday adopted a peace plan drafted by Poroshenko that offers three years of limited self-rule to parts of the rebel-held territory.

The measures give Poroshenko a big political boost ahead of his trip to Washington for crunch talks with US President Barack Obama on Thursday and a special appearance before the Congress.

The legislation also crucially guarantees the right for Russian to be used in all state institutions - a particularly sensitive issue in the war zone.

The Ukrainian leader argued Monday that his plan offered Kiev the best way out of the crisis because it guarantees "the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of our state."

The political proposals allow local legislatures in rebel-held regions to set up their own police forces and name judges and prosecutors.

Snap local polls on December 7 will establish new councils in the areas in Ukraine's vital coal and steel belt.