Multiple United Nations Security Council members have condemned Russia’s decision to grant its passports to residents of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which Moscow partially occupies.
The Ukrainian government appealed to the Security Council, calling for it to take “real action” to oppose Russia’s “unprecedented interference,” which Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine’s permanent representative to the international organization, called “simply illegal.”
During an April 25 meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, the Security Council declined to take concrete steps. Instead, Undersecretary General Rosemary DiCarlo called on both sides to operate by the “spirit and letter of the Minsk Agreements.” That 2015 pact — which called for a ceasefire, effective ceasefire monitoring, the removal of heavy weapons, the freeing of hostages and other measures — has not been fully implemented.
“To that end, we urge all parties to avoid any unilateral steps that may potentially undermine the implementation of these agreements and to address concerns through constructive dialogue in the existing negotiation formats,” DiCarlo said.
However, representatives from Poland, France, the U.K., the U.S. and Germany spoke more forcefully in favor of Ukraine.
France “firmly condemned” Putin’s latest decree as a “flagrant attack on Ukrainian sovereignty.” French Permanent Representative Francois Delattre said that “Russia is deliberately dealing a blow to the spirit of the Minsk Agreements” and “the solution is not to give Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens.”
U.K. Permanent Representative Jonathan Allen also condemned the move, calling it “further evidence of Russia’s aggressive actions to destabilize Ukraine, undermine security, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
U.S. Permanent Representative Jonathan Cohen said that Donbas is Ukraine and the people there are Ukrainian. Offering them citizenship undermines and violates Ukrainian sovereignty.
“If Russia were truly interested in the well-being of Russian speaking citizens of Ukraine, it would seize this moment to chart a new course in Russia-Ukraine relations and seek to work with President (Petro) Poroshenko and his successor to promote peace.”
Cohen said that the U.S. Donbas-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia completely withdraws from eastern Ukraine.
Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzia responded that the offer of passports is motivated by humanitarian assistance to people living in difficult conditions near the lines of contact. He said that Russia is not forcing citizenship on anyone. He also claimed that Moscow is the only source of aid to people who have been allegedly forsaken by Kyiv.
“There is a very high demand for Russian citizenship among people in the southeast of Ukraine because their living conditions have been made impossible by Kyiv,” said Nebenzia. “This issue does not present any kind of threat to international peace and security… They are not required to give up their Ukrainian citizenship.”
Yelchenko responded that granting citizenship en masse in foreign territories that Russia is trying to dispute is a classic move from the Russian playbook. He compared it to Moscow’s granting of citizenship to residents of South Ossetia during the years leading up to Russia’s conflict with Georgia in 2008.
“This is nothing else but a thinly veiled attempt to legitimize the occupation of these territories, to wrest them from Ukraine and dismember my country,” he said.
German ambassador Christoph Heusgen agreed with Yelchenko that this is a classic Russian technique. He said that Russia could have instead chosen to work with president-elect Zelenskiy and offer some “rhetorical flowers.”
Nebenzia responded that “it is too early for flowers.”
After the meeting, Yelchenko told reporters that he wants the council to move to sanction Russia. Even if it gets vetoed, it will further expose Russia, he added.
“The world will see,” Yelchenko said.
