The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine held a working meeting with the delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the General States (Parliament) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The parties discussed, in particular, the current situation in Ukraine, the issue of russia’s circumvention of sanctions imposed against it, ensuring peace in Ukraine, russia’s responsibility for its crimes, and strengthening interparliamentary cooperation.
“Ukraine highly appreciates the significant role of the Parliament in shaping the policy of the Netherlands, which has become one of the European and world leaders in comprehensive assistance to Ukraine,” the First Vice Speaker emphasized during the meeting.
He emphasized that the situation remains difficult, because “putin does not abandon his paranoid goal to destroy Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as a nation, terrorizing civilians, intense enemy attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure continues.” In particular, Oleksandr Korniienko expressed his gratitude for the assistance provided by the Netherlands, especially with regard to rapid recovery equipment, as well as for the Netherlands’ support of the European Commission’s decision to increase electricity exports to Ukraine.
At the same time, Oleksandr Korniienko informed about Ukraine’s needs: weapons to fight the occupiers, air defense systems and the expansion of the tank coalition. “The global terrorist putin can only be stopped by his defeat on the battlefield,” said the First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine, inviting the Netherlands to help Ukraine overcome the latest “taboos” of the West regarding the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine.
“We are grateful to the Parliament and the Government of the Netherlands for their intention to take the lead in the Justice section of the peace formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi,” Oleksandr Korniienko said.
In addition, the First Vice-Speaker expressed gratitude to his Dutch colleagues for active interparliamentary work. “Both visits and dialogues take place. We should continue this practice,” he added, expressing his wish to establish a Group for Interparliamentary Relations with Ukraine in the Dutch Parliament.
At the same time, Oleksandr Korniienko suggested expanding cooperation between Ukraine and the Netherlands within the framework of the Crimean Platform parliamentary summit. “It is important for Ukraine that as many European parliaments as possible are represented, because our common European cause is the liberation of Crimea,” he said, emphasizing that this is the ultimate goal, while the intermediate task is to draw attention to human rights violations in Crimea, the issue of turning Crimea into a military base, environmental problems, and the threat not only to Black Sea security but also to Mediterranean security.
The First Vice-Speaker personally thanked the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Rudmer Heerema, for the active assistance of the Netherlands and for the public position and support of the decision of the International Olympic Committee to ban athletes from russia and belarus from international competitions: “There can be no neutrality when there is a war going on. Sports cannot be used for the sake of their ideological ideas.”
“the russian federation is trying to break the will of Ukrainians to resist, but achieves the opposite effect. The determination of our people to defeat the enemy and protect their country and their freedom is only getting stronger,” the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko emphasized in conclusion.
The meeting was also attended by the members of the Ukrainian parliament: Olha Rudenko, the Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, and Andriit Zhupanin, the Co-chairman of the Verkhovna Rada group on interparliamentary relations with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.