Zelenskyy Orders Creating Mechanism Of Granting 2nd Citizenship To Ethnic Ukrainians

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instructed the Foreign Ministry to create a mechanism of granting the Ukrainian citizenship as the second citizenship to ethnic Ukrainians living in "friendly countries," the president's office said in a statement.

The statement was issued late on Wednesday in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to sign an order facilitating the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainians residing in Russia and coming from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and not only from the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

"The Ukrainian president, in his turn, is instructing the Foreign Ministry to create a mechanism of providing the Ukrainian citizenship as the second [citizenship] for ethnic Ukrainian from the countries that are friendly to us, who are seeking to join the development of their historic motherland. Volodymyr Zelensky is also instructing [the authorities] to create a mechanism of facilitated citizenship procedure for those who suffer from human rights and freedoms violations in their countries," the statement read.

Ukraine currently does not recognize dual citizenship.