Adequate support for Russians in Crimea to be prepared soon - Slutsky
MOSCOW. Feb 25 (Interfax) - The head of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Ties with Compatriots, Leonid Slutsky, has stated that the question of issuing Russian passports to the Crimean people should be approached carefully, without escalating the situation.
"It is a question of too subtle a matter, which requires both special preparations and a special resolution by the country's leaders," Slutsky told reporters on Tuesday.
In raising this subject, some of our Crimean colleagues were too quick to succumb to wishful thinking, he said. "But one must realize that in this fight of civilizations we shall not abandon our brothers in Ukraine and over one million of our compatriots who found themselves in this predicament," the committee chair said.
"A set of adequate measures will be worked out soon," he said. It is premature to say what these measures will be like, Slutsky added.
This visit to the Crimea is a response to the recent arrival in Moscow by a delegation from the Crimean Supreme Council, Slutsky said. "The main goal is to show to our compatriots that we stand by their side," he said.
As regards the fast-track acquisition of Russian citizenship by Ukrainians, the bill authored by Duma deputy Ilya Drozdov and already proposed to the State Duma solves this problem, the committee chairman said. This legislative initiative deserves some attention, the parliamentarian said.
"We need the working hands of our Ukrainian brothers, need them to come to Russia. But we should not approach such processes, which may cause extremely strong reactions, including in Kyiv, in an poorly thought out manner: Ukraine is like a gunpowder barrel, and any provocations could lead to bloodshed," Slutsky said.
