The decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the procedure for granting citizens of certain regions of Russia-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions (ORDLO) Russian citizenship is a gross violation of the Minsk agreements and Ukraine’s international partners must respond to it, Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Chairperson Iryna Gerashchenko has said.
“Putin’s decision to issue Russian passports to citizens living in the occupied territories is a flagrant violation of the Minsk agreements, according to which ORDLO is Ukraine. This is an attempt to creep legitimize pseudo-republics from the Kremlin, a continuation of the Russian scenario of creating a frozen conflict in Donbas,” she said on Facebook.
Gerashchenko stressed that Ukrainian legislation prohibits Ukrainians from dual citizenship, and added that Putin’s decision demonstrates that he does not consider the occupied territories as part of sovereign Ukraine.
She also said that Putin’s decision requires an immediate response from Ukraine’s international partners, a condemnation from the Normandy Four (Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia) and a firm demand to immediately cancel it.
“This decision requires the strengthening of sanctions against Russia, which does not take a single step to solve the war in Donbas. On the contrary, it freezes this conflict so that it will be a wound on Ukraine’s body for a long time,” she said.
