The European Union does not plan to introduce new sanctions against the Russian Federation because of the decision of the Russian Federation to distribute Russian passports to residents of Donbass. This was stated by Czech Foreign Minister Tomash Petršíček in Brussels, where foreign ministers gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership, - European Pravda reports.
According to him, the EU is aware of the decision of the Russian Federation, but does not plan to increase pressure on Moscow because of it. "Now we are more concerned with the search for dialogue, and not with pressure, as the Russian Federation itself does", - he stated.
The position of the Europeans was also confirmed by Romanian Minister Teodor Meleșcanu. He assured journalists that Ukrainians do not need new sanctions against the Russian Federation either. "This will create problems for Ukraine itself", - he stated, but did not specify what problems he sees.
It should be noted that the position of Ukraine is different, Kyiv called on the EU to increase pressure on the Russian Federation. Part of the EU states, which are usually considered to be among the friends of Ukraine in the European Union, are in favor of tougher sanctions. In particular, this was stated by Lithuanian Minister Linas Linkevičius. "This (the distribution of passports) is a deep violation of international law. We agreed that further violation of international law should lead to the increased pressure, so I believe that there should be new sanctions", - he stated. "We must introduce personal sanctions against the Russians involved in this decision, and also decide that the EU does not recognize these passports", - Estonian Minister Urmas Reinsalu stated.
At the same time, it is known that for the introduction of sanctions in the EU, a consensus is needed, which is not yet available.
As reported, on April 24, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the determination of categories of persons entitled to apply for admission to the citizenship of the Russian Federation under simplified procedure for humanitarian purposes", which simplified the adoption of citizens of Ukraine residing in the occupied Donbass to the Russian citizenship.