PUTIN COMMITS ANOTHER ACT OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE
Signs Decree to Simplify Process for Acquiring Russian Citizenship in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions
April 25, 2019
Russian president Vladimir Putin has once again committed an act of aggression against Ukraine. On April 24, 2019 he signed a decree setting out which groups of Ukrainians are entitled to apply for a fast-track Russian citizenship. The simplifiedprocedure of obtaining a Russian passport would apply to the residents of Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk currently under occupation by Russian forces.
The Russian president made the decision “in order to protect human and citizen rights and freedoms” based on “commonly recognized principles and norms of international law” in accordance with the Russian Law on Citizenship from May 31, 2002.
This is yet another brazen attempt to cause tension and conflict between the two countries, just days after Ukraine’s democratic and transparent presidential election.
This blatant action, taken under the pretense of protecting human rights, should be condemned by the international community. The League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) calls on the Government of Canada and all political parties in the House of Commons to condemn this action and calls on the Canadian government to impose the severest of sanctions against the Russian Federation. LUC’s released a statement “Current Sanctions Against Russia Are Not Enough” on April 10, 2019 calling for the following:
a) Canada’s sanctions on Russia’s banking and energy sectors must be maximized;
b) Canada must call for the assets of Russian oligarchs and officials responsible for Russia’s deplorable foreign policies to be frozen in all Western banks with no exceptions; Canada with its allies and partners must investigate Vladimir Putin’s finances and freeze his assets wherever possible;
c) Canada must finally declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism;
d) Canada must call for its European allies and partners to ban all Russian Navy vessels from their ports;
e) Canada must work with its allies and partners to call for any further Russian incursion into Ukraine to be immediately met with the exclusion of Russia from SWIFT;
f) Canada must support Ukraine’s NATO membership aspirations, pushing for a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) to be given to Ukraine during the London NATO Summit in December 2019; and
g) Canada must provide Ukraine with lethal military aid, real-time satellite imagery, and expand Operation UNIFIER to the Donbas region, also adding such higher-level training as brigade-level training.
Any person living on Ukrainian territory invaded and occupied by Russia, who has applied for Russian citizenship and has received a Russian passport, should not be allowedto enter Canada or any other country that is a member of NATO or the EU.
