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Nobody persecuted in Russia for political convictions, Kremlin says

According to the legislation in effect, people are being persecuted by law under suspicion of committing certain crimes, Dmitry Peskov emphasized

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Nobody in Russia is being persecuted for their political beliefs, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists commenting on a law signed by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on simplifying the procedure for obtaining Ukrainian citizenship for those "persecuted" in Russia.

"There is nobody in Russia persecuted for their political convictions. There is legislation, and according to the legislation in effect, people are being persecuted by law under suspicion of committing certain crimes. Yet there is no political persecution in Russia," the Kremlin official emphasized. He noted that the wording of the Ukrainian law is "absolutely incorrect in its essence."

That said, according to Putin’s press secretary, the emergence of this law won’t influence the prospects of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky because there are no focused talks on possible contacts. "There is no substantive preparation of a meeting of the two presidents underway, we have not received any specific proposals from our Ukrainian colleagues. So this factor (the law on simplified citizenship procedure - TASS) is unlikely to play any role here," he explained.

Last week, the Ukrainian president signed a law simplifying the procedure of obtaining Ukrainian citizenship for those Russians who were allegedly persecuted for their political beliefs as well as for foreigners who participated in the Donbass operation on the side of Kiev.

The Zelensky administration specified that the "simplified procedure for obtaining citizenship is provided for individuals who served or are serving in Ukraine’s armed forces, have outstanding achievements for Ukraine or represent a state interest, are the citizens of an aggressor state (Ukraine regards Russia as such - TASS) or an occupant state and were persecuted for political convictions."

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