KYIV, April 24 – Ukraine’s outgoing leader and president-elect separately issued statements on Wednesday denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order simplifying the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.

President Petro Poroshenko said the Kremlin’s action violated international law, while incoming President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of waging war against Ukraine.

The United States on Wednesday also condemned Moscow’s move.

“Russia, through this highly provocative action, is intensifying its assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Reuters reported citing the U.S. State Department statement.

Pavlo Klimkin told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick in Kyiv on Monday that the battle to reclaim Ukraine’s occupied territories back from Russia is far from over.

“We are not interested in having a frozen situation in Donbass because it is in the interest of Russia. We need to get Donbass back, but we need to get Ukrainian Donbass back to Ukraine,” Klimkin said.

“I would not say that it should be the same patterns or the same model for Donbas and Crimea but we need to get back both occupied territories.”

“It is a fundamental point of Ukrainian DNA,” Klimkin said.

Last month, Putin traveled to Crimea to mark the fifth anniversary of the annexation of the region from Ukraine.
The Kremlin has spent heavily to try to integrate Crimea since 2014, including building a bridge to link the peninsula to southern Russia.

But, Western sanctions designed to punish Russia for its annexation have helped to isolate Crimea, driving up prices and slowing its development.

In addition to a tense standoff in Crimea, Ukraine has endured five years of war against pro-Russian fighters in its occupied Donbas region. The fighting is estimated to have claimed the lives of approximately 12,800 to 13,000 people, according to the United Nations.

Ukraine has continuously pushed to keep its cause high on the international agenda, while pursuing membership of the European Union and NATO. (rt/cnbc/ez)