Putin: Russia and Ukraine could agree on joint citizenship
Commenting on journalists’ questions about Russia's plans to issue passports to the Ukrainian citizens and the response of the elected president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again called the Ukrainians and Russians one nation and stated the need for common citizenship.
“I have said many times that Ukrainians and Russians are brotherly nations. Moreover, I believe that this is one nation with their own cultural, linguistic, historical features, but in essence, it’s one nation,” quoted the president of the Russian Federation TASS agency.
According to Putin, "if we have common citizenship, both Russians and Ukrainians will benefit from this."
"If they grant citizenship to Russians in Ukraine and we give our citizenship to Ukrainians in Russia, we will quickly achieve a common denominator and the desired result. We will have common citizenship," he concluded.
In 2014 Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimea and has been involved in hostilities in the Ukrainian Donbas.