"We advocate the full and immediate access of the ICRC mission to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” -- Iryna Herashchenko
On May 25, there has taken place a meeting of the First Deputy Chairperson (the First Vice-Speaker) of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko with a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) led by its vice-president Gilles Carbonnier.
Iryna Herashchenko expressed grateful acknowledgment to the ICRC for its large assistance programme aimed at coping with the aftermath of the ongoing Russian aggression.
During the meeting, there were also discussed boosting of mutual cooperation and a number of projects, which are currently underway.
The First Vice-Speaker informed the ICRC’s vice-president Gilles Carbonnier about the Parliament’s work in humanitarian sphere including the laws on missing persons and their legal assistance and on humanitarian demining as well.
She emphasized that the search for missing persons is high on the agenda of the TCG’s humanitarian subgroup and said that the Ukrainian side insists on the creation of a tripartite search for missing persons with the participation of representatives of the Russian Federation and the ICRC. At the same time, Iryna Herashchenko stressed that this issue is now blocked by the Russian Federation.
The TCG’s humanitarian subgroup representative Iryna Herashchenko highlighted a high level of interest in further deepening the interaction with the ICRC and, in particular, with the view of implementing the humanitarian aspects of the Minsk Agreements. According to her, the involvement of the ICRC is essential to facilitate the release of hostages, the search for missing persons, and the provision of humanitarian assistance to citizens who have suffered from the armed aggression.
An even greater attention was paid to the ICRC mission’s mandate, which is thought to be extended throughout the territory of Ukraine, including the temporarily occupied territories.
The high-ranking Ukrainian politician emphasized that for four years the ICRC mission had never been able to visit the hostages in prisons in the occupied territories, which still causes the deepest concern of the Ukrainian society and relatives of the hostages. During the meeting, the issue of access of ICRC representatives to Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars detained in Russian prisons was also broached.
In turn, the ICRC’s vice-president Gilles Carbonnier thanked the Ukrainian authorities for their constructive cooperation and openness.
The meeting was also attended by the head of the ICRC delegation in Ukraine Allen Ashliman, his deputy Roger Baptiste Ruffy, a presidential adviser Ruslan Demchenko, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova, a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhii Kyslytsia, and a range of other high-ranking Ukrainian politicians and officials.