The Federal Law stipulates the possibility of recognising the citizens of the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine who speak Russian fluently as native speakers of Russian without the need of an interview. However, the procedure for filing applications to be recognised as native speakers of Russian will be determined by the Interior Ministry.
At the same time, the Federal Law empowers the Interior Ministry, acting in coordination with the Ministry of Education, to formulate the criteria for recognising foreign citizens or stateless persons as native speakers of Russian.