This is Kyiv's stance in view of Russian leader Putin's recent decree on issuing Russian passports to residents of the occupied Donbas

Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko Ukrinform

Ukraine urges the UN Security Council member countries to increase the sanctions pressure on Russia - in the view of Russian leader Putin's recent decree on issuing Russian passports to residents of the occupied Donbas. Ukraine's Envoy in the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko said this at the urgent session of the UN Security Council. RBC-Ukraine news agency quoted him as saying.

Yechenko called Putin's decree a violation of Minsk agreement and an attempt to undermine the process of peaceful settlement in the eastern part of Ukraine's Donbas.

'Thus, the increase of the international pressure on the Kremlin, including the targeted sanctions against the aggressor state should be our common objective. This is the way for Russia to return on the path of living up to its commitments in terms of Minsk agreements. This is the way to the peaceful settlement in Donbas', he said.

Yelchenko stated that the decree is illegal, and Ukraine does not recognize any of its consequences.

On April 25, the Ukrainian Parliament turned to the international community, asking governments and parliaments to blame the Russian Federation's actions aimed at issuing passports for residents of the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The respective appeal was sent to the EU member countries, Canada, the United States, as well as the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe. 'Thus, the Kremlin once again breached the basic principles of the international law - deliberately and cynically. The previous practice of Russia's illegal use of the citizenship in the occupied territories shows this policy is of forced and discriminative nature, being the instruments of committing crimes against the humanity and entails human rights violations', reads the address.