You're reading: Zurabov: ‘Blacklists’ between Moscow and Kyiv to be cut, but not scrapped

Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov has said he hopes for the complete cancellation of the practice of keeping 'blacklists' between Ukraine and Russia that ban some individuals from entering these countries, but in the near future they would remain.

Talks in this direction began several months ago, and then the Ukrainian side asked for some time to study the situation thoroughly, Zurabov said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

"At present I don’t expect that in the near future a decision will be taken on the cancelation of blacklists. Some citizens of the Russian Federation who became hostages at some stage to our [bad] relations will be excluded from them," the ambassador said, adding that the number of people on blacklists would significantly decrease, although these lists were unlikely to be scrapped in the near future.