Russia testing Ukraine's new leader with passport move - Lithuania

FILE PHOTO: Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius poses for a portrait at United Nations Headquarters in the Manhattan borough New York May 28, 2015. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

KIEV (Reuters) - Russia's decision to make it easier for residents of rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine to obtain a Russian passport is meant to test Ukraine's new leader and the West should not recognise the documents, Lithuania's foreign minister said on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the order on facilitating passports on Wednesday, three days after comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice, won a landslide victory in Ukraine's presidential election.