Ukraine parliament to consider visa travel regime with Russia
4 October 2016
Ukraine’s parliament will consider introducing a visa travel regime between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Andriy Parubiy said on television on Oct. 3. He said he will consult with faction leaders and review such proposals at the Oct. 6 session. “There are grounds to hold a vote with results,” he said, as reported by the pravda.com.ua website. “There are grounds to find a majority in the Verkhovna Rada.”
More than 52% of Ukrainians oppose introducing a visa travel regime with Russia, according to a poll results released by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center on Sept. 26. 55% of Ukrainians oppose breaking diplomatic relations with Russia. The poll was conducted between Sept. 9 and 14 involving 2,018 respondents.
Zenon Zawada: Parubiy seems to be speculating on a hot political topic to impress his western Ukrainian electorate. But Ukraine’s parliament won’t impose a visa regime, and won’t break diplomatic relations, so long as a majority of Ukrainians don’t support such moves. Most of those opposed live in the country’s Russophile southeastern regions.
Russian President Putin and his advisors are well aware that Ukrainians want the ability to freely travel to Russia, despite the war in Donbas. They are using this situation to their advantage in creating provocations – such as the Roman Sushchenko arrest – and escalating military aggression, as happened yesterday.
