Moscow, Apr 25 : President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to make it easier for residents of eastern Ukraine’s separatist territories to obtain Russian passports and citizenship, the Kremlin said.
The decision taken on Wednesday was widely seen as a test of the new leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy who was elected as the president of Ukraine just few few days ago .
Starting Wednesday, Russia’s Interior Ministry has been instructed to consider applications from eastern Ukraine within three months of submission, The Moscow Times reported.
According to Putin , the new law is purely a humanitarian issue.
Mr Putin said people living in these areas were ‘completely deprived of civil rights’ and could not ‘move normally’ or ‘realise their most elementary needs’.
‘We have no desire to create problems for the new Ukrainian authorities,’ Mr Putin added.
Simplified citizenship for Donetsk and Luhansk residents was made possible after Putin was granted the authority to select foreigners eligible for Russian passports under a law that entered into force on March 29.
Earlier, separatist rebellions broke out against Ukrainian rule in both regions in 2014 and Moscow provided military help for the separatists. However, Russian officials have always denied providing material support.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin denounced Russia’s move on Wednesday.
The decision “to issue passports in the occupied Ukrainian territories is the continuation of aggression and interference in our internal affairs,” he tweeted, urging Ukrainians living under occupation not to apply for such passports.
Earlier on Wednesday, Putin said that it was unacceptable that residents of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions had no rights,
He also said that Russia did not want to create problems for the new Ukrainian leadership.
“We don’t have any desire to create problems for the new Ukrainian leadership,” Putin said, explaining the passport move.
(UNI)
