According to Putin, shared citizenship would make the Russian and Ukrainian peoples stronger and more successful.
Putin said this on Monday in response to the words of the winner of the presidential elections in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who expressed the desire to grant Ukrainian passport to some citizens of the Russian Federation.
“True? Did he say this? Well, very well. This suggests that we will find an agreement, probably,”- said Putin.
“If they grant citizenship to Russians in Ukraine, and we – to Ukrainians in Russia, we will quickly come to a common denominator and the desired result. We will have shared citizenship,” the Russian leader stressed.
At the same time, the President of the Russian Federation is convinced that the Russians and Ukrainians are one people, albeit with their own characteristics, culture, and language.
“We have a lot in common. If we have shared citizenship, both Russians and Ukrainians will benefit from this,” he stressed.
The President of the Russian Federation also believes that it is necessary to return Ukrainian citizenship to the ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and other Ukrainians who left the country to escape Poroshenko’s regime.
He explained that Saakashvili was “illegally deprived of citizenship, illegally expelled from the country.”
“He should have been returned and restored to his violated rights, as well as some other Ukrainian citizens who were forced to leave the country and go to the promised lands, fleeing from the persecution of the current Ukrainian regime,” Putin said.
Recall that on April 24, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on a simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship of the Russian Federation for residents of occupied Donbass.
Later, on April 27, Putin declared that Moscow was thinking about giving citizenship under a simplified procedure not only to the residents of the Donbass but also to all Ukrainians.
Zelensky, in response, said that Ukraine would grant citizenship to representatives of all peoples suffering from authoritarian and corrupt regimes, and first of all to the Russians.
Zelensky also said that Russia should not waste time trying to seduce Ukrainian citizens with Russian passports.
All members of the UN Security Council condemned Putin’s provocative actions.