KIEV, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's parliament on Thursday approved a law on restructuring the country's debts, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak saidrubymegaways.

The legislation was supported by 231 votes in favor, exceeding the 226 minimum votes required, Zheleznyak said on social media Telegram.

In particular, the new law has entitled the government to suspend payments on Ukraine's external state debts until Oct. 1, 2024, Zheleznyak said, without giving other details.

Earlier, the chairperson of the budget committee of the Ukrainian parliament, Roksolana Pidlasa, announced that Ukraine may freeze its foreign debt payments if it fails to reach a debt-restructuring agreement with foreign creditors by Aug. 10, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

In August 2022, international creditors approved Ukraine's request to postpone payments for 24 months on 13 of its Eurobond issues totaling 22.6 billion U.S. dollars.■