The President launched a discussion on dual citizenship with Ukraine

On the eve of the presidential election in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Chairman of the State Duma and the Federation Council Boris Gryzlov and Sergey Mironov to begin consultations with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the issue of dual citizenship of Russia and Ukraine.

“I will ask you to contact your colleagues in Ukraine right next week and start work on this issue on a professional level. I also believe that it would be right to organize a wide discussion of this issue in our countries,” Putin said at a meeting with Gryzlov and Mironov on Saturday.

The head of state noted that, in his opinion, “referring to the special nature of relations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which has developed over many hundreds of years, while our peoples lived as part of a single state, referring to ethnic, religious, cultural and even linguistic intimacy, a huge number of related connections, mixed marriages, as well as the needs of our economies, a deep cooperation that has developed between enterprises, to bring the advantage of the advantage Integration for the future of our countries, it would be advisable to return to this issue by responding to the corresponding signal from Ukraine. "

As Putin explained, "during a recent trip to Ukraine, the president and prime minister of this country, and citizens of Ukraine raised a question about dual citizenship."

“Of course,” the president emphasized, “this issue can only be resolved if there is confidence that the vast majority of the public of Russia and Ukraine will support this proposal and will be ready to fight for its implementation.”

At the same time, Putin noted that he knows "that in our expert community there are various opinions, a rather complicated attitude to this topic." In this regard, the head of state asked Boris Gryzlov and Sergey Mironov "to formulate his own attitude to this topic."

Speakers of the State Duma and the Federation Council of the federation of the introduction of dual citizenship appreciated positively. According to President Gryzlov, State Duma deputies have already decided to send a deputy request to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliev regarding the possibility of introducing dual citizenship.

As the State Duma speaker emphasized, when discussing the issue of the need for such a deputy request, a rare case occurred: all the deputies voted "unanimously".

"The opinion of the State Duma is that dual citizenship with Ukraine is not only possible, but also necessary. All deputies of this opinion are held," Gryzlov said.

For his part, Mironov said that "as the head of the Federation Council believes that such a decision would be correct." "The State Duma has already discussed this issue. I think that if the corresponding fundamental decision is made, the Federation Council will support it," he said.

Ukrainians will be able to be in Russia without registration 90 days

From January 1, 2005, citizens of Ukraine will be able to be in the Russian Federation without registration for up to 90 days, and citizens of the two countries will be able to cross the border according to internal passports. This was stated at a meeting with the President of Russia, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Rashid Nurgaliev.

"Experts recognized it possible to increase the stay of citizens of Ukraine without registration in Russia up to 90 days if there was a migration card with a border control mark - yesterday a protocol, a basic document, which will enter into force on January 1, 2005, was signed," Nurgaliev said.

He said that "the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FMS, the Russian Foreign Ministry worked on the change in the regime of registration of citizens of Ukraine in the Russian Federation on the basis of reciprocity."

According to Nurgaliev, "this decision will contribute to the strengthening of good neighborly relations between the two states and the observance of the legal rights of citizens of our countries."

According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, an agreement has also been reached that from January 1, citizens of Ukraine and Russia will be able to cross the border according to internal passports with the liner.

In turn, Sergei Lavrov, whom Putin proposed to speak the following, said: "As for crossing the border according to internal passports, this is decided and - there is an agreement on this - by exchanging notes."

"From January 1, 2005, internal passports with inserts will be one of the documents that will be used by citizens of the two countries to cross the border," Lavrov said.

Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, head of the Kremlin administration Dmitry Medvedev, Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Defense Sergey Ivanov, director of the FSB, Nikolai Patrushev, also take part in the presidential meeting.

According to RIA Novosti, a press secretary of the President of Russia, the meeting also discussed issues of socio-economic development of the Russian state.