Russia’s decision to facilitate naturalization of residents of the self-proclaimed Donbas republics derives from humanitarian problems and the reluctance of Kyiv to declare an amnesty and to recognize the special status of these territories, President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Vladivostok on Thursday.
Journalists asked Putin whether the decision was intended to provoke the Ukrainian authorities. “I personally am far from provoking anyone. These passports are a strictly humanitarian affair,” he said.
“As for the outgoing and new Ukrainian authorities, neither of them is going to sign the amnesty bill,” Putin said.
Kyiv “is not going to recognize the special status of the ‘DPR’ (the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’) and the ‘LPR’ (the ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’), either, although these are key provisions of the Minsk Agreements,” he said.
