Verkhovna Rada deputy Yevgeny Rybchinsky suggested distributing Ukrainian passports in the center of Moscow. He made such a statement after the appearance of a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the simplification of the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship by residents of self-proclaimed DNR and LNR.

According to Rybchinsky, such a move by the Ukrainian government would allegedly put the Russian leadership "in a hopeless situation."

“There is a Kuban, which is ethnically Ukrainian ... Yes, and there are so many Ukrainians in Moscow itself that we don’t even imagine,” the parliamentarian said.

Recall, April 24, 2019, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on simplifying the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship, which can be used by residents of certain regions of Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine. According to the document, the period for consideration of relevant applications should not exceed three months.

In Kiev, the emergence of a decree caused a storm of indignation - the current incumbent president Poroshenko said that Moscow “had crossed the red lines” and appealed for support to the UN Security Council.

“By order (President of Ukraine. - RT ) Petro Poroshenko has already appealed to the UN Security Council. This bold move contradicts the Minsk agreements approved by the Security Council, ”Vladimir Yelchenko, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, wrote on his Twitter page.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was surprised to react to the Ukrainian authorities.

“Regarding the issue of passports by other, neighboring states, for some reason, no attempts were made to bring this issue to the level of the UN Security Council. And why here? How is this situation different? Nothing! ”- quotes the Russian leader TASS.

  • President Vladimir Putin
  • RIA News
  • © Alexey Druzhinin

At the same time, commenting on the decision on a simplified system for obtaining Russian citizenship by residents of the LC and the DPR, Vladimir Putin said that his decree was dictated by humanitarian problems, because residents of the republics “cannot fulfill the most basic needs”.

"We have no desire to create problems of the new Ukrainian government, but to tolerate a situation in which people living in the territory of these Donetsk and Lugansk republics are completely deprived of any civil rights, this is beyond the scope of human rights ... This is a purely humanitarian question, ”the Russian president stressed.

The same day, on April 25, the Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, spoke at a meeting of the Security Council convened by Ukraine. He stressed that the residents of Donbass need Russian citizenship because of the unbearable living conditions in which Kiev put them.

“We do not interfere in internal affairs and do not deal with creeping annexation. We only give people the opportunity to finally fundamentally solve the problems that are vitally important for them, because the Kiev authorities refuse to solve these problems, ”the diplomat stated, providing his colleagues with official data from the Russian Interior Ministry: 925 thousand people from Russia entered the last five years Southeast regions of Ukraine. During the same time period, more than 334 thousand Ukrainians applied for registration of Russian citizenship.

“In other words, with this initiative, Russia is responding to the despair of many thousands of people. We are not forcibly making them Russian citizens, but they themselves are striving for this. We only provide this opportunity and greatly facilitate this process, ”stressed Nebenzya.

"Pure Water Populism"

Sergei Tsekov, a member of the committee of the Federation Council on international affairs, called absurd the proposal of the Ukrainian parliamentarian to issue passports to Russians in the center of Moscow.

“The Deputy of Parliament made a similar initiative only to talk about and learn about him. The statement is absurd - Rybchinsky inadequately assesses the situation. The decision of Moscow carries a weighty, social meaning, and the words of the Ukrainian parliamentarian are pure populism, ”Tsekov said in an interview with RT.

According to him, Moscow seeks to protect those Ukrainian citizens who live in the DPR and LNR: the Ukrainian authorities do not pay their pensions, do not provide social benefits. Not to mention the fact that over the course of five years the “native” Ukrainian power has been killing its citizens in the territory of the republics, the expert emphasized. Therefore, the initiative of the deputy Rada will suffer a complete fiasco - the Russians are not interested in obtaining a Ukrainian passport, they value their citizenship, I'm sure Tsekov.

  • Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
  • Reuters
  • © Gleb Garanich

According to the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis and Management Ruslan Bortnik, the statement of the Ukrainian deputy should be regarded only as an attempt to divert attention from the country's internal problems.

“This is a figure of political speech that distracts attention from problems inside Ukraine and fixes it on the actions of the Russian leadership. However, this proposal does not bring anything positive, not to mention that its implementation is technically and politically impossible, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

“A humanitarian issue”

According to analysts, instead of making meaningless proposals for the issuance of Ukrainian passports to Russian citizens in the center of Moscow, parliamentarians should put forward more pressing initiatives. In particular, they could think about how to guarantee the population of Donbass at least elementary rights, which they were deprived of by the Ukrainian authorities.

As Sergey Tsekov notes, the Ukrainian authorities themselves abandoned their citizens, depriving them of any social support and launching punitive operations against them.

“Instead of initiating the issuance of passports of Ukraine to Russians in the center of Moscow, the Ukrainian parliamentarian would have to think about how to provide social guarantees for residents of the LC and the DPR, what to do to receive pensions, allowances and other social benefits. Unlike Ukraine, in Russia there are no citizens who would be deprived of such opportunities, ”said Tsekov.

According to the deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, Vladimir Shapovalov, the statement of the Ukrainian parliamentarian should not be seriously considered, it only indicates a low level of political culture. Meanwhile, the decision of the Russian authorities can really help the residents of Donbass.

“The fantasies of Ukrainian politicians, fueled by an unhealthy election campaign, lead to funny incidents. This initiative - from the category of "deputies, too, joking." There can be no rational and rational consequences of this joke. While the initiative of Russia is associated with a humanitarian catastrophe, which was the result of the adventurous military policy of the Kiev authorities and led to the fact that millions of Ukrainian citizens turned into outcasts in their own country and people of second grade who do not participate in the elections are deprived of the opportunity to live a normal life. “- said Shapovalov in a conversation with RT.

"Become a laughing stock for the whole world"

Even before the beginning of yesterday’s meeting of the UN Security Council at the request of Ukraine, the EU countries called Moscow’s actions contrary to the “goals and spirit of the Minsk agreements” and undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“The adoption of this decision immediately after the presidential elections in Ukraine, which demonstrated Ukraine’s firm commitment to democracy and the rule of law, shows Russia's desire to further destabilize Ukraine and exacerbate the conflict,” said France’s permanent representative to the UN Francois Delatr.

  • France's permanent representative to the UN Francois DeLatre
  • Reuters
  • © Amr Alfiky

Jonathan Cohen, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, made a similar position.

“Granting citizenship on a massive scale to citizens of another state undermines and violates the principle of sovereignty,” he said.

The outrage of Ukraine was also supported by the heads of the Lithuanian and Latvian foreign affairs agencies.

In response to the anti-Russian attacks of the participants in the meeting, Vasily Nebenzya said that Moscow does not force anyone to change citizenship, and the decision of the Russian authorities is in no way connected with the Minsk agreements.

“Having listened to our Western colleagues, one can make a false impression that Russia forcibly forces citizens of Ukraine to change citizenship and at the same time - of course, well, without it, it“ violates ”the Minsk agreements. I want to ask you again: “What point of the Minsk agreements are we violating? Have you read them? ”The Russian permanent representative addressed those present.

Despite Kiev’s outrage, no resolution was adopted following the Security Council’s meeting, the chairman didn’t make any appeal, and no one made statements, as Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Yelchenko hoped. Before the meeting, he told reporters that he was counting on the results of the meeting "at least on a statement by the President of the Security Council, or another statement by the Council, or at least a statement to the press."

At the same time, according to Sergey Tsekov, it is possible that some part of the international community will respond to the idea of ​​distributing Ukrainian passports to Russian citizens. However, if Kiev decides to realize it, Ukraine will once again voluntarily “become a laughing stock for the whole world,” and the international community will close its eyes to the habit.

“Citizens of the Russian Federation are indifferent to Kiev offers on the provision of Ukrainian passports. Kiev has been making crazy decisions for more than five years. The world community understands this, but still supports Ukraine, since it conducts Russophobic policy. All is forgiven to Kiev, including this kind of inadequate initiatives, ”the politician concluded.