EU will soon discuss issuance of Russian passports to residents of Russia-occupied Donbas

13:54, 15.06.2019 1 min read

Leaders of the European Union will discuss the issuance of Russian passports to residents of Russia-occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the next couple of weeks, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli has said.

"Our leaders will discuss this in the next few weeks. I cannot tell you what the outcome of the discussions will be, but the condemnation has already been clear," he said in an exclusive interview with the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Mingarelli said the EU had immediately reacted to Russia's decision to simplify the procedure for granting Russian citizenship to residents of Russia-occupied eastern Ukraine.

"This was said that it was an additional attack [by Russia] against Ukraine's sovereignty, that this measure was clearly designed to further destabilize Ukraine, and it was blatant violation of the Minsk agreements," he said.

As reported, EU leaders are scheduled to meet on June 20-21.