Sergei Aksenov proposed replacing the term “new regions” with “historical”

He noted that after a long absence from Russia, the regions have returned, and now the question is about their restoration and “return to normal life.”

Because what we had before 2014 can hardly be called a normal life, but our colleagues generally passed the test — and the courage of the people who are today building a new life in the liberated territories evokes admiration and respect. <…> For the sake of building justice, a new life [они] take risks <...>, and we, unfortunately, lose people, and first of all we lose the best and the strongest. But perhaps the price of freedom implies thisemphasizes the Head of Crimea.

He added that now in the regions of Donbass and Novorossiya the priority should be to raise the standard of living to the level of other constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

[Перед этими четырьмя регионами стоят] the tasks are the same as for all subjects of the Russian Federation. They just have certain specifics. The lag that existed in Crimea in terms of the development of any infrastructure — sports, tourism, and so on — these same moments, these same problems are now in the liberated territories, which are also placed at the forefront when decision-making by officials. A decision was made to finance and develop those projects, to achieve those goals, those indicators that most regions of our large country have already achieved. This task <...> probably still requires the consolidation of the entire societysaid Sergei Aksenov.

source: TASS