The issue of Russia's aggression in Donbas and annexation of Crimea is on the agenda of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council meeting.
Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs Hanna Hopko was the moderator of the III session of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council.
Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksii Lytvynenko drew attention of the meeting participants to the fact that the events that took place in Crimea and Donbas in 2014 were not a spontaneous decision of the Russian authorities, but the policy well-established over the period of 20 years. He said that Russia deploys its troops near the border with Ukraine creating permanent military infrastructure along the whole borderline.
He added that real goals of the Minsk accords can be achieved only once all the combat activities are ceased and all illegal armed formations are disbanded.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary / former member of the Minsk contact group Roman Bezsmertnyi noted that there has been nothing more disgustful than the Minsk process in the whole history.
He considers that the problems with Crimea and Donbas cannot be solved in the regional context. They can be solved only in cooperation with the world community.
He said it is impossible to assure Putin to restore peace as he had deliberately unleashed the war against the whole civilized world.
Chairperson of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people / Verkhovna Rada deputy of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction Refat Chubarov expressed confidence that the world appeared to be unable to properly respond to the actions of the Ukraine's northern neighbor. He said that the Crimean Tatars cannot help accepting the idea that the Crimea's return to Ukraine is not on the agenda.
According to the speaker, everyone's inactivity wastes time, while the time is in fact the major weapon of the Russian President hoping to discourage the leaders of the western countries and calm down the society.
Chairperson of the subcommittee on relations with NATO of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European Integration Mustafa-Masi Nayem called the oligarch past, populism and Russia the major threats to implementation of reforms in Ukraine. He noted that the oligarchs still exert pressure on the situation in the country, the politicians continue trying to raise their ratings gambling on the problems of the citizens, and Putin has successfully eliminated the agenda of the Maidan. Nayem added that the reformation of the energy, judicial systems failed due to the lack of the funds. He also drew attention to the fact that in 1994 Ukraine refused from its nuclear arsenal for the sake of peace, instead in the times of war it cannot ask even for a gun.
The chairperson of the subcommittee called on the international partners to start controlling the funds they allocate for Ukraine as it is very hard to do it from inside.
Presenter of the Radio Free Europe show on Radio Svoboda Vitalii Portnikov called the situation in Ukraine a part of the global crisis of the post-Soviet space. "Georgia was the first. Moldova and Kazakhstan are the next," he said. He added that the West must be an example and observe all the obligations. The policy of the civilized world cannot exist in conditions of double standards, he concluded.