The EU believes Russia can use passports in ORDLO to create a full-scale war

The European Union is deeply concerned about Russia's continuedly issuing passports to ORDLO, which contradicts the Minsk agreements and clearly violates Ukraine's sovereignty.

According to Ukrinform, this is stated in a statement issued by the European Union during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

"We're deeply concerned that Russia is continuing, and has recently even accelerated, its policy of mass issuing of passports to Ukrainian citizens in non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine. This policy runs counter to the spirit and objectives of the Minsk Agreements and is a clear violation of Ukraine's sovereignty," the statement said.

The EU has said that the Kremlin's policy is of particular concern given the statements of high-ranking Russian officials about the possibility of military action to protect the interests of these new certified citizens.

"The European Union and its member states recall that they do not recognize these passports and call on other OSCE participating States to do the same," the statement said.

During the meeting of the Permanent Council, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna Yevhen Tsymbaliuk drew attention to Russia's continuing to issue passports in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine (ORDLO). Thus, he pointed out that, according to statements by a member of the Russian parliament, by the end of 2021 in ORDLO, they can issue about 1 million such illegal Russian passports.