Russia hopes visa regime with Ukraine not introduced

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has expressed hope that Ukraine’s decision to introduce visa rules with Russia will not be implemented.

“I have an impression that the Ukrainian authorities have discrepancies on this issue,” State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister Grygory Karasin told a meeting of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee on Friday. “We hope this decision will not be implemented," Karasin stressed.

The deputy foreign minister also said Moscow is convinced that Russia and Ukraine will live in good neighborly relations and friendship.

“We want Ukraine to regain calmn and stability. I am convinced that we will live in good neighborly relations and friendship,” he said.

No hurry with visa rules

Ukraine should not hurry with introducing visa regime with Russia, and this move must be mature, Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Thursday.

Ukraine’s acting Secretary of the Council for National Security and Defense Andriy Parubiy announced on Wednesday that the council decided at its session to introduce travel visas for Russian nationals.

Ukraine’s National Security Council decides to introduce entry visas for Russian citizens
“We need to measure thrice and cut once,” Yatsenyuk said adding that Russia already raised this issue on many occasions and such measure on behalf of Ukraine would “hardly be effective in terms of influence on the Russian Federation”.

“This issue is in a very important humanitarian dimension for Ukraine, as many Ukrainian citizens are interested in preserving the visa-free regime.” He said. “These are primarily people from eastern and southern parts of the country, as they work in Russia and have relatives on the other side of the border.”

Traveling between the two countries has always been visa-free since 1991 when Ukraine declared itself independent from the Soviet Union.