30 Nov 2018 14:13

Zhirinovsky suggests strengthening ties with Ukraine, not emulating Kyiv

MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and its faction in the State Duma, says Russia should not respond to Ukraine's actions in kind.

"In order to respond to Poroshenko, we should not impose restrictions on Ukrainians, as some people have suggested. On the contrary, we must speed up the issuance of our passports to everyone who wants them so that they can come to Russia freely and live and work here. Maybe [we could even] permit dual nationality as an exception," Zhirinovsky wrote on Telegram.

He suggested "recognizing Ukrainian documents, so that there'd be a Russian-language insert in a Ukrainian passport for those who constantly migrate within our territory."

Poroshenko's scenario is "to sever the Russian and Ukrainian nations," but it is not possible to split peoples who have lived together for centuries, Zhirinovsky wrote. "People want to live together. Today all of Europe is without borders and customs. Visas are being abolished all over the world," he wrote.

Ties with Ukraine should not be severed; "on the contrary, strengthen it all," he wrote.