A draft language law pending in the Ukrainian parliament ensures a significant expansion in the use of Russian, a senior lawmaker said on Wednesday.

Under the bill, Ukrainian will remain the only state language in the country but the use of "minority" languages will expand, Vadim Kolesnichenko, a member of the ruling Party of Regions faction and head of the Russian-Speaking Ukraine public movement, said.

"The bill brings Ukraine closer to European standards and implements the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages," he said.

"The draft law defines mechanisms for the application of official regional status to the languages used in Ukraine, including Belarusian, Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian, Hungarian and others."

It lifts restrictions on the use of Russian in all key spheres of public life - television, advertizing, cinema, local self-government, the judiciary and education.

KIEV, September 8 (RIA Novosti)