Passports from Putin

While Ukraine is preparing for the inauguration of the sixth president, Russia has decided not to waste time. Vladimir Putin not only issued a decree on the simplification of the procedure for granting Russian citizenship to residents of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions but also publicly expressed his readiness to spread this practice to all citizens of Ukraine, according to Ukrinform.

Such a step is unprecedented, and it is a sign of a new stage in Russia's hybrid war. The process of issuing passports in the territory of satellite states is a technology far from new, and it had been used earlier in Transdniestria and South Caucasus, but this time the issue concerns a state with a population of several tens of millions of people. 

The civilized world has not yet made an antidote against Russia's interference with the election process, and it is being offered a new challenge, indicative against the backdrop of Donald Trump's struggle against green cards and the debate on the prospects for reforming the Schengen area.

Putin last week outlined the agenda for communication with Ukraine's President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky in various ways, recalling the need to resolve the conflict "in the south-east of Ukraine" and a very high price for natural gas paid by Ukraine. Let me remind you that there is no well-wisher in modern diplomacy, and this should be realized by the new president of our state.

5/11/2019 04:15:00 AM