Its main political program was to facilitate much closer relations with the Russian Federation until the possible reunification of Crimea with Russia. Mechkov tried to initiate a political-military union with Russia and completely ignored the positions of the Ukrainian government. He also tried to force the rotation of the Russian currency, issue Russian passports to the population of Crimea and even transfer Crimea to the same time zone as Moscow. Due to the unexpected resistance of the local opposition, Meshkov only managed to place his autonomous republic in the Moscow time zone. He also appointed the Deputy Prime Minister, Russian economist Yevgeny Saburov, who has practically become the head of government. He then said in confrontations with other government officials about the legitimacy of his designee that he did not even have a Ukrainian passport. Because of this, Yevgeny Saburov was forced to resign. After that, he managed to paralyze the work of the Supreme Council of Crimea.