Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian passports issued to residents of eastern Ukraine were a first step towards “annexing” the region. This came after his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, issued a special decree to that effect.
“This is definitely the first step, because the same thing happened before in Crimea, Crimean residents received Russian passports. This is a big problem,” he told a news conference on the occasion of two years since he took office.
The head of state of Ukraine also said that the authorities plan to propose “after some time” to hold a national referendum on the topic of resolving the conflict in Donbass, TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
Zelensky clarified that the Ukrainian authorities have several options for resolving the conflict in Donbass. According to the president, Germany and France support Kiev, but have recently weakened their stance on Russia.
According to the Ukrainian leader, this is due to the economic situation, as well as pressure inside their countries. Nevertheless, Zelensky assured that Ukraine will continue to work in the so-called Norman format (Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine) that has existed since 2014.
He stressed the need direct conversation with Vladimir Putin on the issue of settling the conflict in Donbass and that it is necessary to involve the United States in the negotiations on Donbass, although the format of the discussion has not yet been determined.
President Zelenski identified the construction of a state without oligarchs as a top priority and stressed that the main priority is to build a state without war. He announced that a bill to fight the oligarchy would be promulgated next week.
The president said the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council had drawn up a list of 13 people who could be identified as oligarchs, but did not name them.
Former prime ministers Yulia Tymoshenko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Volodymyr Groysman they will not return to power during his term, even though they are “experienced”, Zelenski said.
He said it was too early to say whether he would run for a second term.
Possible lifting of US sanctions imposed on the Russian-German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, it would be a victory for Russia, Zelensky was quoted as saying by AFP.
He was speaking the day after Washington’s decision to drop some of the sanctions against the project.
“There is a great risk that the United States will lift the sanctions related to this project. It will be a defeat for the United States and personally for President (Joe) Biden. It will be a serious geopolitical victory for Russia,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine has long opposed the future pipeline because it will bypass it and supply Russian gas directly to Europe. As a result, the country will lose significant revenues from gas transit, notes AFP.
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