Russia’s offer of passports would make it more difficult to reintegrate the separatist-held regions of Ukraine. It would also give Russia more reason to justify military intervention to defend its citizens abroad.
Zelensky, who will be inaugurated in June, said in a statement that Putin’s decision was a “clear confirmation to the world community that the real role of Russia, as an aggressor state, is waging war against Ukraine.”
Zelensky defeated incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who came to power in 2014, just months after Russian-backed rebel militias began fighting the Ukrainian military.[link in Russian], will ease the process for getting Russian passports to those living in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics. The Kremlin said the decision was made"in order to protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.
Ukraine is a bilingual country, with Ukrainian and Russian spoken by nearly all of its 43 million people. While Russian has traditionally been the dominant language in eastern and southeastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian language has seen a revival across the country, despite Putin’s vow in 2014 to defend Russian speakers in Ukraine and around the world.
Poroshenko said Putin’s decision amounted to preparation for the Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Donbass region or for creating a Russian enclave within Ukraine.
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