amendment

Ministers want to see "substantial amendments" to the legislation, meaning it is unlikely to pass before parliament breaks up for next year's election.

In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act — the subtitle of which, Keyssar points out, is “an act to enforce the fifteenth amendment.”

But a Kremlin official rejected the amendments as "completely unconstructive".

That new document likely incorporates at least some of the amendments proposed by the Europeans and published by Reuters news agency that point to something far more palatable for Kyiv.

But the proposal is fiercely opposed by Japan, which consumes large quantities of eel and has launched a concerted lobbying effort to ensure the amendment fails.