After expressing anger at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree
offering people in Ukraine’s breakaway east passports to allow them to
travel abroad, President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky has made his own offer
intended to spite Russia.
Zelensky is now offering Ukrainian citizenship to any Russians who “suffer” under Putin’s rule. It’s not clear how this would work, or if there would be any conditions on moving to Ukraine as part of citizenship.
Realistically the offer is intended to one-up Putin’s offer of
passports, and a chance to present Ukraine as having better freedom of
speech and media than the Russians do.
Putin’s passport offer was meant to practically address a problem, that
people in two Ukrainian oblasts literally can’t get Ukrainian passports.
Putin has now said he is going to “fast-track” those passport applications.
Ukraine President-elect Offers Citizenship to Russians
Putin vows to fast-track passports for Ukrainians
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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