Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked anger in Kiev by offering Russian citizenship to residents of areas in eastern Ukraine which are held by Russian-backed separatists.
He said it was a “brutal violation of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine and a complete trampling upon its obligations in the framework of the Minsk agreements.”
In addition to supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine, Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
Efforts to broker a lasting peace in Ukraine have faltered. The Minsk agreements signed in 2014 and 2015 called for a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons, but have repeatedly been breached.
