Klimkin: Ukraine Doesn’t Need a Russian Ambassador

Diplomatic relations between Kyiv and Moscow have been reduced to almost zero, so there is no need to have a Russian ambassador in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin said on Wednesday, August 17, on 5 Kanal.

The Minister said that Ukraine should not rush to introduce visas for Russian visitors: "We now allow Russians to enter only with their international passports through international and interstate checkpoints [ed: Russian citizens could travel to Ukraine with their internal passports earlier]. ...I am not against introducing visas, and we have estimated what we need for this, but we have to make this step not as a symbolic measure, but with clear understanding of what we are getting out of it."

There is currently no Russian ambassador in Kyiv, as the Ukrainian side did not approve Mikhail Babich to occupy this position after Mikhail Zurabov was dismissed.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda