Filenews 12 July 2022
The Kremlin announced today that many Ukrainians want to become Russian citizens, a day after Moscow issued a decree simplifying the rules for granting Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens.
In a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no talk of resuming peace talks with Kiev, and more than four months have passed since Russia sent its armed forces to Ukraine.
With the aim of maintaining control of areas
Russia has said that residents of areas in southern and eastern Ukraine, which have been occupied since February, have the right to become Russian citizens, a move that, according to Ukraine and Western countries, confirms Moscow's plans to maintain control of these areas.
Until now, the simplification of the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship concerned only residents of the self-proclaimed breakaway territories of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine.
ANA-MPA
