Russia has no plans to integrate the self-proclaimed Donetsk (DNR) and Lugansk People’s Republics (LNR), despite reports that the European Union allegedly believes Moscow is slowly trying to absorb parts of eastern Ukraine.
That’s according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who on Thursday rubbished allegations published by America’s Bloomberg. “Russia has not planned and does not plan to absorb anyone,” he told reporters.
Two regions in Ukraine’s Donbass, the DNR and LNR breakaway republics, unilaterally declared independence from Kiev in 2014. For the past seven years, eastern Ukraine has been the location of a civil war, and separatists now control large swaths of territory. These republics are unrecognized by both Moscow and Kiev. However, since the start of the war, the Kremlin has been accused of having control over both self-declared states, with some suggesting Moscow eventually wants to make the region Russian territory.
Also on rt.com Despite not meeting key criteria for European Union accession, Ukraine’s President Zelensky says country will join bloc by 2030On Wednesday evening, an article on Bloomberg’s website revealed that an as-yet-unpublished EU paper accuses Russia of trying to “de facto integrate” parts of eastern Ukraine through a number of different means, including issuing Russian passports to its residents. In 2019 alone, Moscow granted 196,000 citizenships to Donbass locals. It is worth noting that it is almost impossible for residents of the troubled region to renew their Ukrainian documents, and those issued by the DNR and LNR are completely unrecognized by almost all nations of the world.
The EU paper presents suggestions the bloc could take to help Ukraine resist what it calls ‘Russian aggression,’ such as helping Kiev’s Covid-19 vaccination program and boosting efforts to deny the recognition of Russian passports issued to residents of Crimea and parts of Donbass.
However, the suggestions did not include allowing Ukraine to join the EU. Becoming a member is one of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s foreign policy aims, and the leader has been working on accession ever since his election in 2019. However, Kiev is yet to match any of the key criteria to join the bloc. Earlier this year, Zelensky predicted that Ukraine would be accepted into the club by 2030, calling it “a matter of time,” rather than a “hypothetical possibility.”
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