Russia violating Ukraine peace deal with passport order - Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to temporarily recognise passports issued by rebels in Ukraine violates the Minsk peace agreement, a German government spokesman said on Monday.

"The recognition of travel documents issued by the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic undermines the unity of Ukraine and is a stark contradiction to all that was agreed in Minsk and is therefore totally unacceptable," Steffen Seibert said during a regular government news conference in Berlin.