"Stepping up pressure upon the Russian Federation is a prerequisite for unlocking the process of releasing the hostages," -- Iryna Herashchenko
On September 12, the First Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Presidential envoy on a peaceful settlement of the Donetsk-Luhansk clash Iryna Herashchenko met with the Coordinator for Inter-societal Cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and the Eastern Partnership Countries, a member of the German Bundestag Dirk Wiese.
The First Vice-Speaker highlighted the importance of intensifying the inter-parliamentary dialogue between Ukraine and Germany. Iryna Herashchenko also thanked for the support of the territorial integrity and state sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as cooperation within the Normandy format.
The First Deputy Chairperson of the Ukrainian Parliament informed the interlocutors about the security, ecological and humanitarian situation in the Donbas and invited the Bundestag delegates to visit the liberated territories.
Shedding light upon the TCG humanitarian subgroup’s activities, I. Herashchenko pointed out that the main issues of the agenda - releasing the hostages and introducing a trilateral mechanism for finding missing persons with the participation of representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross – remain, to everyone’s regret, yet blocked.
According to her, Ukraine has managed to release this year only one soldier from the occupied Donbas and two employees of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, who were kidnapped and illegally detained in the Russian Federation. The politician stressed that all Ukrainian initiatives regarding the release of the Kremlin’s hostages and political prisoners remain unanswered by the Russian Federation formally. The Ukrainian side has repeatedly offered to convey thirty-six citizens of Russia convicted of crimes against the territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for returning the Kremlin’s political prisoners home.
Given the lack of progress in fulfilling Russian commitments under the humanitarian sub-group, I. Herashchenko underlined the acute need for far heavier pressure over the Russian Federation later on.
I. Herashchenko said that at the request of the Ukrainian side, the Coordinator of the TCG’s humanitarian subgroup Toni Frisch had taken a short journey over the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
While informing about the parliament’s current agenda, the First Vice-Speaker underscored that among the high-priority tasks strengthening of the national security and defence sector stands apart. She notified Dirk Wiese that a humanitarian demining bill would soon be registered and approved.
In his turn, the Coordinator for Inter-societal Cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and the Eastern Partnership Countries Dirk Wiese has assured that Germany will continue to support Ukraine in its struggle for restoring its territorial integrity.