Ukraine Imposes Travel Restrictions on Russians

Russian nationals will not be able to enter Ukraine without a travel passport beginning March 1, 2015, the Ukrainian prime minister announced, according to a news release published on the Ukrainian government’s Internet portal.

The move will help Ukraine tighten border security and strengthen national security, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. The process also involves "introducing European rules for crossing the state border, including for Russian citizens," he added.

Under a bilateral agreement signed in 2007, Russians did not need a travel passport to visit Ukraine. They could use a national visa passport as well as a birth certificate. Those have now been excluded from the list of relevant documents. Russians will still be able to enter Ukraine using a travel, diplomatic or service passport, as well as a seafarer’s ID or a flight certificate.

Ukraine’s decision will not help to improve relations between Moscow and Kiev considering the challenges that Kiev faces in settling the Ukrainian crisis, Russian lawmaker Vasily Likhachev told Ria Novosti.