BERLIN, August 30. /TASS/. Germany and France oppose a blanket ban on the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians, DPA reported on Tuesday, citing a joint position paper sent to the other EU member states ahead of a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague.

"We should think about smart ways to make use of the important lever of the issuing of visas," the paper reads, calling for a close scrutiny of visa applications from Russian citizens for potential security risks. The experience of life in democratic systems should not be underestimated, especially for future generations, the paper warns.

"Our visa policies should reflect that and continue to allow for people-to-people contacts in the EU with Russian nationals not linked to the Russian government," DPA quoted the paper as reading. According to the document, the legal framework should therefore be maintained allowing students, artists, scientists and experts to enter the European Union, regardless of whether they are faced with political persecution.

In an interview with the Washington Post on August 9, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky urged Western countries to prevent all Russians from entering their territories, while later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba on Twitter called on "all EU and G7 countries to stop issuing visas to Russians."

This idea was met with support in a number of European countries, including the Baltic States and the Czech Republic. A diplomatic source in Brussels told TASS that at an informal meeting in Prague on August 30-31 the EU foreign ministers would consider proposals by the Baltic states and Finland to ban the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians. Later this was confirmed by the European Commission. The source explained that since the Schengen visa code did not envisage the possibility of imposing a complete ban on the issuance of visas based on nationality, the initiators of this project had two options to choose from: either to launch a revision of Schengen rules, which can prove a lengthy and effort-consuming process, or to try and reach agreement with a number of EU countries on restricting the issuance of visas to certain categories of Russian citizens. Most countries in Southern and Western Europe oppose this initiative.

Leading EU nations, in particular Germany, have so far shown caution to this measure, since a ban on Schengen visas for Russians may be seen as a confirmation that EU sanctions target the entire country and its people, rather than its leadership. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed that he could hardly imagine stopping the issuance of Schengen visas to Russians. According to him, the Russian leadership is responsible for the situation in Ukraine, not ordinary citizens.