Ukrainian parliamentarian Iryna Friz (Petro Poroshenko Bloc) calls for introduction of visa requirements for Russia, and for doing so under the same conditions that European Union countries have in place for Russian visa-applicants.
“Ukraine must start the process of introducing visa requirements for Russia, involving a collection of biometric data of all Russian Federation citizens arriving in Ukraine. (…) I am convinced that the introduction of Ukraine’s visa-free travel with the European Union also requires us to apply additional security measures in the form of introducing visas for Russian Federation citizens under the same terms that apply for these Russian citizens obtaining EU visas,” Friz wrote on her Facebook page on Thursday.
If Ukraine introduces visa requirements for Russians, “the Kremlin will respond with symmetrical measures,” Friz said.
“Given that Ukrainian citizens get arrested and locked up in Russia for no reason, the visa requirements will make this process more difficult since giving permission to issue a visa implies that the country has no objection to a person entering it. It means that it will be harder to justify the detention of Ukrainian citizens in Russia. At the same time, for those who opposed visa-free travel with Europe, the introduction of visas for Russia should not become a problem,” Friz said.
