Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andrii Parubii met with President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE Ilkka Kanerva on Tuesday.
The meeting participants discussed number of issues related to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, reforms in Ukraine and holding of local elections on the occupied territories.
Expressing his gratitude to the members of the international organization for their considerable work on the occupied territories, Andrii Parubii expressed hope that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe will take a stand on the issue of elections on the occupied territories and in Crimea. "We are disappointed with the inability of the Russian Federation to observe the Minsk agreement. The stand of the OSCE is very important in view of the fact that Russia will hold election in September this year. We have to unite to avoid the violation of the international law deliberately planned by the leadership of the Russian Federation," he said.
At the same time, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada noted that Ukraine "hopes for the expansion of the Mission and deployment of the armed police mission in Donbas," and added that Ukraine openly shows its readiness to settle the conflict in a peaceful way. Andrii Parubii also said that a condition to hold the elections in the east of the country is full observance of security, free speech and freedom of peaceful gatherings there. Otherwise he said this would be a manifestation of disrespect for the citizens staying on the occupied territories.
Andrii Parubii also informed Mr. Kanerva about drastic steps taken by Ukraine to reform the country in many fields. "Probably it happens not as quickly as we would like it to. I am confident that Ukraine is following the right path. We do hope for further fruitful cooperation," he said.
In turn Mr. Kanerva expressed his concerns over the daily violation of the ceasefire regime by Russia and called the situation critical. In speaking of the issue of elections and provision of special status to the occupied territories, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE said the elections there must be conducted with the participation of international observers and said that almost 700 OSCE Special Monitoring Mission's observers continued their work in the east of Ukraine. At the same time, he said it is impossible to fulfill all the functions the Mission has if there is no full access to the Ukrainian territory. Mr. Kanerva was pessimistic about the prospects of further settlement of the issue: "We have quite a long list of measures to be taken and issues to be considered, however, we are not optimistic about the negotiations with the Russian representatives." He also assured Ukraine of absolute support of the European Union. In particular, he called on the Ukrainian parliamentarians to take part in the seminars organized by the representatives from the Federal Republic of Germany.
Delivering his closing speech, Andrii Parubii noted that Ukraine has managed to successfully pass through the crisis and take important decisions. "This inspires us for success," he said.