MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Thursday defended his decision to fast-track Russian citizenship for some residents of separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, a move widely seen as possibly prolonging the war there and testing the mettle of the country’s novice president-elect.
“The passport question is purely a humanitarian matter,” Putin said at a news conference in Vladivostok, Russia, after a summit meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Given that both the current and future Ukrainian leaders appeared intent on isolating the region, Putin said, “we cannot just look at it calmly.”
Ukraine, which does not allow …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
