On 23-27 March, the Ukrainian delegation headed by the First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko will pay a working visit to the Swiss Confederation.

The programme of the visit includes participation of delegates in the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

On the third day of the working visit, Ukrainian delegates continued a series of important and fruitful meetings with delegates from other countries. According to Oleksandr Sanchenko, the member of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, the main topics discussed were Ukrainian realities and constant russian shelling of civilian infrastructure, the return of Ukrainian children abducted and deported to the russian federation, the importance of implementing the President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's Peace Formula, United Nations reform and the need for further support for Ukraine at all levels.

In addition, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko delivered a statement during the debate at the 148th Assembly. During his speech, he focused on the massive missile attacks by the russian federation, russia's violations of international law, and the importance of implementing the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

The First Vice-Speaker, among other things, stressed that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace is possible only through collective will and collective action. “We are confident that the international parliamentary community can make a significant contribution to achieving the goals of the Peace Formula. Only through joint efforts and pressure on russia in all possible international formats can we achieve our ultimate goal – the establishment of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine based on the UN Charter,” stressed Oleksandr Korniienko, calling on the members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to join the Ukrainian Peace Formula and the Global Peace Summit.

Poland, Ghana, Ireland, Peru, Namibia, Zambia and Chile – the Ukrainian delegation held a series of meetings on the sidelines of the 148th IPU Assembly

During the meeting with the Polish delegates, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko expressed gratitude to the Republic of Poland for its significant contribution to countering russian aggression and consolidating the international community in assisting Ukraine. He also informed about the consequences of shelling of the energy infrastructure. “We appreciate the steady support of our Polish partners on Ukraine's path to EU and NATO membership,” the First Vice-Speaker said.

For his part, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, Oleksandr Merezhko, noted that Ukraine needs a plan for joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. “We cannot allow the Summit in Washington to end in the same way as the Summit in Vilnius,” he said, expressing his expectation of Poland's advocacy on this issue.

During the meeting with Zambian representatives, Oleksandr Korniienko expressed his expectations that the President of Zambia would participate in the Global Summit. He emphasised that Ukraine is ready to remain a guarantor of global food security and spoke about the results of the global humanitarian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”. “We look forward to further fruitful cooperation between our countries within international organisations,” said the First Vice Speaker.

“We believe that you can make a huge step towards peace by joining our peace plan,” Oleksandr Merezhko stressed, informing his colleagues in more detail about the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and its ten specific points.

At the same time, Olha Rudenko elaborated on online learning programmes for students that could be organised in cooperation.

For her part, Zambian representative Nelly Mutti stressed the need to create friendship groups between parliaments, as well as the importance of doing more to promote the necessary resolutions within the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

“We are grateful for Chile's consistent position in condemning russian aggression and supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stressed during the meeting with the Chilean delegates. In addition, the Ukrainian delegates raised the issues of the security situation, the illegal abduction of Ukrainian children by russia and interparliamentary cooperation.

For his part, Oleksandr Merezhko stressed that Ukraine needs international and defence assistance: “We are losing people, the more weapons we get, the better. We cannot stop defending ourselves, because they will destroy us.” He also invited Chilean representatives to join the Global Peace Summit. 

At the same time, Olha Rudenko stressed that the abduction of Ukrainian children by the russian federation is part of the genocide against the Ukrainian people. Artur Herasymov thanked the Chilean delegates for their vote at the United Nations and invited them to pay a working visit to Kyiv.

Oleksandr Korniienko told the Namibian delegation more about the situation in Ukraine, in particular, about russia's missile attacks. The parties also discussed food issues, the expansion of the new export corridor, and cooperation between the countries within international organisations.

“We appreciate Ireland's comprehensive support of our country and people,” said the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during a meeting with Irish delegates. He expressed gratitude to the country for its assistance in providing demining equipment. Oleksandr Korniienko also noted the important decision of the country to join the implementation of specific points of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The parties also discussed Ukraine's European integration track.

“To stop the war, we need weapons, because only this can stop the russians,” said Oleksandr Korniienko, among other things. Oleksandr Merezhko stressed that due to the lack of sufficient ammunition, territories are being lost.  

During the meeting with the Ghanaian delegation, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, Oleksandr Merezhko, first of all, informed about the current situation in Ukraine and expressed his gratitude to Ghana for its support in voting for resolutions at the United Nations. The Ukrainian delegates presented the ten points of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi's Peace Formula to their colleagues, inviting them to join the Global Peace Summit.

At the same time, Artur Herasymov, the member of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, stressed that the shelling of Ukrainian ports by russia was causing problems with transit. He also appealed to his colleagues from Ghana to recognise the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people.

Oleksandr Merezhko thanked the delegates from Peru for their visit to Ukraine in 2020, for the recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people at the parliamentary level, and for their support at the United Nations. Artur Herasymov stressed that Ukraine is ready for the new sowing season and is ready to produce a lot: “russia continues to bomb Ukrainian ports, so exporting products is a difficult issue.” At the same time, Olha Rudenko spoke in more detail about the points of the President Zelenskyi's Peace Formula, calling on Peru to take part in its implementation. For their part, the Peruvian MPs emphasised close cooperation with the Ukrainian embassy in the country.

The Ukrainian delegation headed by the First Vice Speaker Oleksandr Korniienko met with the IPU President Tulia Ackson

At the end of the third day of work on the sidelines of the 148th IPU Assembly, the Ukrainian delegation met with the IPU President Tulia Ackson.

The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko thanked the President for the resolutions adopted by the IPU members at the 144th and 145th Assemblies, which strongly condemned russia's aggressive war against Ukraine and called on russia to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory.

In particular, the parties discussed the issue of returning home Ukrainian children deported to russia. They also considered possible areas of cooperation on this topic and outlined an action plan.

The First Deputy Speaker invited Tulia Ackson to pay a working visit to Ukraine. For her part, the IPU President confirmed her intentions to make such a visit and stressed the importance of further cooperation.

The Ukrainian delegation also includes members of the Ukrainian Parliament: the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Arsenii Pushkarenko, the member of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Olha Rudenko, the member of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management Lesia Vasylenko, the member of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi, the member of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Oleksandr Sanchenko, and the member of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Artur Herasymov.

For reference. The Inter-Parliamentary Union is a global organisation of national parliaments.

It was founded more than 130 years ago as the world's first multilateral political organisation to encourage cooperation and dialogue among all countries. Today, the IPU has 180 national member parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies.

The IPU promotes democracy and helps parliaments develop into stronger, younger, greener, more gender-balanced and innovative institutions. It also protects the rights of human beings – parliamentarians – through a special committee made up of MPs from around the world.