Ruslan Stefanchuk: Mutual respect between Ukraine and the EU must bring about qualitative changes

Informatiion Department
Published on 09 June 2022, at 10:54

During his working visit to Strasbourg, the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, met with the Co-Chairs of the Greens / European Free Alliance in the European Parliament, Ska Keller and Philippe Lamberts

Ruslan Stefanchuk thanked his colleagues for the support that Ukraine has felt from the European Parliament since almost the first day of the war.

"It is essential for us that mutual respect between Ukraine and the EU brings about quality change," he said, adding that he would be grateful to the Ukrainian people for all the applause he received today at the European Parliament.

Ruslan Stefanchuk singled out several areas of cooperation with European colleagues: the first is technological, intellectual, and institutional assistance and their development in the future.

"The second is support with weapons and military equipment. I ask you, as deputies of your countries, to reach out to those who make decisions, with one simple thesis voiced by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – one day of the war in Ukraine has a great price – 100 lives and 500 wounded soldiers. This is terrible mathematics that we must remember when forming the timeline of providing military assistance to Ukraine," Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed.

The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also thanked for the sanctioned support of Ukraine by the European Parliament and stressed that it needs to be strengthened to "wage war for russia became economically painful."

In addition, they discussed the financial support that the European Union is actively providing to Ukraine and the mechanisms of financial responsibility of the aggressor for the damage.

"Let's find a mechanism together that will be able to compensate for all the damage caused primarily by the russian federation and its oligarchs and other actors who supported the war," said the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, adding that this issue is also closely linked russia to account in the International Criminal Court and the problem of reconstruction of Ukraine, to which the Ukrainian authorities invite all countries of the European Union.

For their part, MEPs expressed support for Ukraine's commitment to European values ??and took a keen interest in the current situation in Ukraine. In particular, they raised the issue of obtaining Ukraine's EU candidate status, weapons, and demining assistance needed by Ukraine.

"I feel that Ukraine has support in the world. Europe cannot get tired. Otherwise, it will lose. Therefore, we must open our eyes and see that if someone thinks that the war is far away, the war is already on the doorstep," Ruslan Stefanchuk said.