EU rejects Russian offer of citizenship to Crimean, Donetsk residents

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) BRUSSELS, June 5 (KUNA) -- European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini met on Wednesday with Ukraine's new President Volodimyr Zelenskyy who arrived here yesterday on his first visit abroad since taking office on May 20.
Mogherini congratulated Zelenskyy on his election victory and underlined that the EU continues to stand by Ukraine with respect to its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, noted a statement released by her office.
They also discussed the possible way forward with the full implementation of the Minsk agreements by all sides, while recalling the responsibility of Russia in this regard.
They rejected the recent Russian decrees entitling all people who permanently reside in certain areas of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the Crimean peninsula before 2014, to apply for Russian citizenship in a simplified manner.
Earlier, Zelenskyy met the President of the European Council Donald Tusk and discussed EU-Ukraine ties.
"We condemn the Russian decrees on granting Russian citizenship to Ukrainians in Donbas or of Crimean origin. This goes against the Minsk agreements," Tusk told journalists after the meeting.
"There can be no safe Europe without a safe Ukraine. To put it simply: there can be no Europe without Ukraine!" stressed Tusk.
On his part, Zelenskyy told journalists that he is glad that his first foreign visit begins in Brussels where the EU institutions are based.
He noted that the system in Ukraine "is premeditated with corruption" and expressed his determination to implement reforms and fight corruption as his top priorities.
The Ukrainian President also met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg yesterday at NATO headquarters.
Stoltenberg thanked Ukraine for contributing to NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, despite serious security challenges at home. (end)
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