On November 27 in NATO Headquarters, there was a meeting of Andriy Parubiy with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine informed Jens Stoltenberg of the naval attack committed by Russian warships against Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait.
NATO Allies and Ukraine discussed the serious situation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. Ukraine provided Allies with detailed information on the incident yesterday. “This morning, I had a phone call with President Poroshenko who requested the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting. Because under the NATO-Ukraine Charter, Ukraine can request such a meeting if it perceives a direct threat to its territorial integrity, political independence, or security. And at this meeting all allies expressed their full support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. So we call on Russia to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports and allow freedom of navigation for Ukraine in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait,” said J. Stoltenberg. “Allies will not recognize Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of the Crimea,” he then stressed.
"If in previous years Russia has been hiding the hostile activities of its military during the annexation of the Crimea and the Donbas, constantly disguising their soldiers under the so-called "Crimean self-defence" or "local miners", then the Kerch Strait attack on Ukrainian ships Russia has done openly, without hiding, under the Russian flags," said Andriy Parubiy. “Putin is carrying out “power tests” and puts the whole free world to the test, waiting whether the civilized world is capable of giving a response to its crimes," summed up the head of parliament.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada informed his discourser about the actions of Ukrainian authorities in response to Russia's aggression.
"We all need an active reaction of the free world to Russia's crimes. So, I urge NATO member states to increase the presence of their ships and air control in the Black Sea area," said Andriy Parubiy, addressing to the NATO Secretary General.
The speaker then informed Jens Stoltenberg that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine had started constitutionalization of Ukraine’s aspirations aimed at the country’s accession to NATO and the EU. Hence, the Ukrainian politician called on the NATO official to render Ukraine a clearly defined feedback upon the outlook of those processes.
The Chairman also spoke about the progress of Ukraine’s reforms that are laying a legal groundwork for the whole high-performance security and defence sector.
Andriy Parubiy urged to intensify financial support for Ukraine’s cyberdefence through NATO’s trust funds, especially in the run-up to coming elections.
He also mentioned the grave threat of the Kremlin’s political project Nord Stream 2, which must be stopped for sure.
Jens Stoltenberg assured that NATO would continue to assist Ukraine in reforming its armed forces and harmonize its military standards with NATO standards, and the Allies would go on to provide Ukraine with bilateral military assistance.
At the end of the meeting, the Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy handed over to the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in connection with the act of aggression of the Russian Federation recently adopted by the Ukrainian parliament.