Volodymyr Zelensky, who won the presidential election in Ukraine, warned Russia that the language of ultimatums and threats is not the best way to achieve peace in Donbas. He wrote about this on his Facebook page.
“You should not speak with Ukraine and Ukrainians in the language of threats, military and economic pressure,” said Zelensky.
At the same time, he noted that this is not the best way to cease fire and unblock the Minsk process.
Zelensky also said that Russia should not waste time trying to seduce Ukrainian citizens with Russian passports.
On April 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that simplifies the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship by Donetsk and Luhansk regions residents. Applications for entry into citizenship of the Russian Federation, received from residents of ORDLO, should be considered no more than three months from the date of submission.
Earlier Putin proposed to introduce general citizenship for residents of Russia and Ukraine. He stated this, commenting on the words of Volodymyr Zelensky about the readiness to provide Ukrainian citizenship to Russians, reports Gazeta.ru.
“I have said many times that Ukrainians and Russians are fraternal peoples and even more. I generally think that they are one nation ... and if we have general citizenship, both Russians and Ukrainians will benefit from this,” he said.
“This suggests that we will agree, probably because we have a lot in common,” Putin stressed, assessing Zelensky’s statement. He also expressed confidence that common citizenship would make both countries "stronger and more successful."
