Russia tests Ukraine's new president with passports for breakaway regions
Source: The Guardian
Vladimir Putin has swiftly moved to test Ukraine’s new president-elect, signing a law that could allow millions of Ukrainians living in breakaway regions of south-east Ukraine to receive Russian passports.
The provocative decision came just three days after the 41-year-old Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian with no political experience, won a landslide victory in presidential elections. The Kremlin has not yet congratulated Zelenskiy or officially recognised the election result.
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Now, Russia’s challenge could force him to take a harder line. His team released a statement on Wednesday calling Russia’s move another sign that Russia was “an aggressor state that is waging war against Ukraine”.
More than 13,000 people have died in eastern Ukraine since fighting broke out in 2014 between the government and separatists armed and financed by Russia. The offer of Russian passports will be seen in Kyiv as an attempt to continue the integration of the territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions into Russia, as well as to pressure the new president to come to the negotiating table.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/24/russia-passports-ukrainians-breakaway-regions-decree-ukraine
Putin takes advantage of a president with no governing or international experience ... what a surprise!
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