KIEV, May 8. /TASS/. Kiev will ask other countries to refrain from recognizing Russian passports issued to Donbass residents, Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"Once the Ukrainian government makes this decision [on the non-recognition of Russian passports issued to Ukrainians living in Donbass - TASS], we will ask all our partners to do the same, so that border guards will consider such passports to be illegal," Groisman said.

On April 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, which eases Russian citizenship rules for residents of certain regions of southeastern Ukraine. "Individuals permanently residing in certain areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions have the right to apply for Russian citizenship under a fast-track procedure," the decree reads. According to the document, the decision has been made "in order to protect human rights and freedoms" based on generally accepted international laws.