Putin explains issuing Russian passports to Donbas residents by concern for human rights
ST. PETERSBURG. April 24 (Interfax) - Russia does not want to create problems for the new Ukrainian authorities; facilitation of the acquisition of Russian citizenship for residents of certain areas of Donbas is a humanitarian matter, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"We have no desire to create problems for the new Ukrainian authorities. But tolerating this situation, where people living in the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are deprived of any civil rights, goes beyond all limits in terms of human rights," Putin said at a meeting with the members of the Council of Legislators.
Residents of these regions cannot "travel normally, cannot meet their most basic demands and rights," he said.
"It's a purely humanitarian matter," Putin said.