[ad_1]
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an ordinance simplifying the procedure of obtaining a Russian pbadport for residents of eastern Ukraine under the control of separatists, which prompted Kiev to call for stronger international sanctions.
The decree, which has been published on the Kremlin website, stipulates that requests for treatment of certain residents of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk under separatist control will be examined in less than three months.
The decision could intensify the five-year war between Ukrainian troops and RussiaArmed forces that killed 13,000 people despite a theoretical ceasefire signed in 2015.
Russia's decision on Wednesday is a preliminary test for Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky, who won a landslide victory in Sunday's presidential election and is committed to finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Zelensky said that Putin's action had shown that Russia was waging war in Ukraine and had not brought the two sides closer to peace. He called on the international community to threaten Russia with additional sanctions. Outgoing President Petro Poroshenko said that Russia could try to annex the Donbbad region.
"Russiaby this highly provocative action intensifies its attack against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, "said the US State Department in a statement.
The rebellion erupted against the Ukrainian government in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014. Moscow has provided military aid to the separatists, according to reports, although Russian officials denied providing material support.
Plans have been under way for several months to streamline the publication of Russianot pbadports to the inhabitants of both regions, according to sources close to the separatist administrations. If these plans had been announced before the Ukrainian elections, it would have strengthened the chances of Poroshenko, the Moscow candidate who wanted the least.
"We do not wish to create problems for the new Ukrainian leadership, but to tolerate a situation in which people living in the territory of Donetsk and the Luhansk Republic are generally deprived of any civil rights." "said Putin.
"State of the aggressor"
Ukraine urged residents not to apply for Russian pbadports and informed the United Nations of Russia's move. Kiev has also asked the European Union to take "swift and decisive" measures.
Only identity card holders issued by the separatists will be eligible for the accelerated procedure proposed by Putin. The separatist authorities said Wednesday they issued about 300,000 identity cards of this type in the region, whose population is estimated at 3.7 million.
Bands from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions are now under de facto Moscow-backed rebel control, while Ukraine is determined to reaffirm its control, a position supported by most Western countries.
Zelensky's office said his priority was peace but called Russia"Actions of" another clear confirmation for the global community of Russiais the real role of an aggressor state that is waging a war against Ukraine, "according to a statement.
Russia has always denied Western and Ukrainian accusations of sending troops and heavy weapons to fight Ukrainian forces in the region.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia plunged after the protests of Maidan Street in Kiev in 2014 prompted a Kremlin-backed Ukrainian president to flee into exile.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine a month later in March 2014, triggering Western sanctions.
The United States, the EU and Russia will closely monitor Zelensky's foreign policy statements to see if and how he could try to end the conflict.
Immediately after Zelensky's victory, the Kremlin declared that it was premature to talk about Putin's congratulations to Zelensky or the possibility of collaboration between the two leaders.
Mr. Zelensky is committed to keeping Ukraine on a pro-Western trajectory while showing less empathy than Poroshenko on the potential projects of a 42 million-year-old country. 39 inhabitants for membership of the EU or NATO.
[ad_2]
Source link
