Putin Orders Ukrainians in Russia to Legalize Status or Leave by September 10

International International News

Posted by NewAdmin on 2025-03-21 08:52:39 |

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a directive requiring Ukrainians living in Russia to legalize their immigration status or leave the country by September 10. This order, as reported by The Moscow Times, was outlined in a presidential decree published on Thursday. The decree states that Ukrainians without "legal grounds to stay or reside in Russia" must either obtain Russian citizenship or exit the country within the next six months and ten days. 

The directive specifically targets Ukrainian passport holders from four partially occupied regions—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia—regions that Russia claimed to have annexed in 2022. Additionally, it applies to Crimea, a region Russia seized in 2014. Over recent years, Russian authorities have consistently pressured residents in these occupied areas to accept Russian citizenship. Putin previously stated that the process of issuing Russian passports in these regions had been "virtually completed" by last year, according to The Moscow Times. 

Ukraine has strongly opposed this move, condemning Russia's efforts to enforce citizenship on Ukrainians. The Ukrainian government has labeled this practice as "illegal" and a "gross violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty." Western governments have also criticized Russia’s policy, and the European Union has announced that it will not recognize these passports as valid travel documents. 

Amid these developments, efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine are ongoing. US President Donald Trump revealed on Wednesday that he had a "very good" one-hour phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Earlier in the week, Trump had also spoken with Putin. Ceasefire talks are scheduled to begin in Jeddah on Sunday, with the US expecting Ukraine to align with agreements reached during the recent phone conversation between Trump and Putin, according to Trump's Special Envoy Steven Witkoff. 

Witkoff, in an interview with Fox News, described his meetings with Putin, stating that the discussions lasted for multiple hours and were productive in narrowing down key issues. He indicated that Russia was willing to negotiate terms related to a ceasefire, particularly concerning energy infrastructure on both sides. These discussions have been in progress for a considerable period, and the upcoming negotiations in Jeddah are expected to further explore pathways toward a resolution.

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