On the second day of the Conference of the Presidents of the EU Parliaments, which is taking place in Prague, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk continues to meet with his fellow speakers on the sidelines of the Parliamentary Summit.
Today, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament met with the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen.
The main topic of the meeting was the upcoming NATO Summit, which will be held in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
The Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine expressed his sincere gratitude to Ms.Speaker and the entire Seimas for the resolution on Ukraine’s early NATO membership.
“This is yet another manifestation of significant support for Ukraine. Ukraine has high expectations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius. Its most important outcome should be the definition of the Alliance’s vision of modalities and clear timeframes for Ukraine’s accession to NATO,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk.
In addition, he thanked once again for the great assistance that Lithuania has been providing to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and these steps, according to the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, are very valuable for us.
At the same time, he stressed that Lithuania’s support for Ukraine’s path to full membership in the EU is very important for Ukraine, and that Ukraine expects to start negotiations on this issue this year.
In addition, the parties discussed a number of important political and economic issues for Ukraine: the continuation and strengthening of sanctions pressure against the aggressor state; the peace formula of the President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, which, according to the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine, is a formula for a just, not a forced peace, etc.
Finally, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine invited his Lithuanian colleague to participate in the II Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimean Platform, which will be held in October in Prague.
For her part, the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, assured her Ukrainian counterpart that the Lithuanian Parliament would continue to adopt and produce important decisions and resolutions to support Ukraine. In particular, she noted the Seimas’ full support for Ukraine’s European integration and Euro-Atlantic course.
“Lithuania wants Ukraine to receive an invitation to join NATO. This is our position, which we convey to our partners. Yesterday we met with Poland, Latvia and Estonia, and they also assured us of their support. We will do our best and hope for a result,” stressed the Speaker.
At the same time, she noted that the NATO Summit in Vilnius is taking place at an absolutely historic time and the decisions that will be made will also be historic, so “parliaments and speakers cannot stay away from making history”.
“We are trying to do our best at all levels to help you. Because Ukraine is always on our minds and this is the one topic on which there are no political differences within our parliament,” said Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen.