Moscow Concerned Over Kiev's Proposal To Give Dual Citizenship To Ukrainian Diaspora

Kiev's proposal to grant ethnic Ukrainians living abroad dual citizenship raises many questions, specifically with regard to how to define an "ethnic Ukrainian," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) Kiev's proposal to grant ethnic Ukrainians living abroad dual citizenship raises many questions, specifically with regard to how to define an "ethnic Ukrainian," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed his Foreign Ministry on Wednesday to create a mechanism that would grant ethnic Ukrainians living in "friendly" countries dual citizenship. This announcement was made in the wake of Russia's move to facilitate the Russian citizenship process for Ukrainians residing in Russia and living in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"They didn't specify how they would determine 'an ethnic Ukrainian'. Many questions emerge. Will it depend on father, mother or the last name or will it be on an emotional level, like in case of [former Georgian President and Odessa governor Mikheil] Saakashvili? So basically, a procedure is needed," Zakharova wrote on Facebook.

Earlier in the day, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kiev administration's initiative was a domestic matter.

Ukraine does not currently recognize dual citizenship.