Estonian Foreign Minister: EU should expand sanctions over Russian passports in Donbas

The European Union should extend sanctions against the Russian Federation over the issue of Russian passports to Ukrainians living in occupied territories in Donbas.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia Urmas Reinsalu wrote this on Twitter.

“Russia’s provocative actions in Ukraine speak for themselves. EU shouldn't recognize Russia’s passports issued to Ukrainians in occupied territories, should consider expanding sanctions. EU will stand together for territorial integrity & sovereignty of Ukraine,” reads the report.

As Ukrinform reported, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership ministerial meeting that there should be more tougher actions from the EU than individual sanctions over Kremlin's decision to simplify the procedure for granting Russian citizenship to Ukrainians living in occupied territories in Donbas.

According to Klimkin, this problem concerns not only Ukraine and Georgia, which have already suffered from Russia’s actions, but also those countries of the European Union where a significant number of Russian-speaking population lives.

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