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Kiev seeks Moscow’s tit-for-tat move on visas, OSCE envoy says

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Kiev’s proposal to introduce visa requirements for Russian citizens is aimed at triggering Moscow’s retaliatory moves that will affect millions of Ukrainians, Russia’s envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Alexander Lukashevich said.

"Ukrainian nationalists won’t stop," Lukashevich said at the OSCE Permanent Council’s meeting in Vienna on Thursday, according to the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On Monday, the parliamentary faction the People’s Front, led by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, asked the Verkhovna Rada to consider several bills this week, including on the proposed introduction of visa requirements for Russians. Earlier this week, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Vladimir Vyatrovich called on Ukrainians to break all ties with relatives living in Russia.

"Ideas on introducing visa requirements for Russia are widely discussed. What is the goal of that? The Russians’ entry to Ukraine is complicated without these measures, and many citizens are not allowed to the country, with no reasonable explanations," the diplomat said. "Possibly, the goal is to provoke response steps so that they hit millions of Ukrainians who go to Russia to earn money and visit relatives."

Moscow has not yet decided on its possible response measures, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters.