If Donbas residents want to enter Belarus, they should show Ukrainian passports, not those of DPR and LPR, Anton Bychkouski, a representative of theBelarusian State Border Committee, says.
According to international and bilateral agreements, one is allowed to crossing the state border if only they have appropriate documents.
“We are existing under the legislation. If a person crossing the state border does not possess the documents providing them with the right to do so, we cannot let them in,” Bychkouski told tut.by.
According to the official, such persons will also be held accountable in accordance with the law, for example, for the violation of rules of foreign citizens’ stay and transit through Belarus.
On February 18, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed an order authorizing the recognition of documents issued by the separatist-led, self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic. The Kremlin’s press service says that it was done ‘so as to protect rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen and in accordance with generally accepted principles and norms of international humanitarian law’. Analysts say Russia hopes to continue to use them as long as it can to destabilize Ukraine and maintain pressure on its pro-Western government.
