The meeting took place on the sidelines of the G7 Summit of the Presidents of the Parliaments of the G7 member states, which is taking place on 05-07 September in Verona, Italy.
First of all, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk congratulated the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola on her re-election. “I am sincerely grateful to our great friend for all the decisions of the European Parliament in support of Ukraine and its active position on strengthening this assistance,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk.
During the meeting, the parties focused on Ukraine's defence needs in view of the situation at the frontline. The Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament outlined Ukraine's most urgent needs, including additional air defence systems to protect Ukrainian cities and more F-16 aircraft.
Ruslan Stefanchuk emphasised that it is critically important that our partners agree to use the weapons provided to us without any conditions or restrictions. “Ukraine calls for permission to strike at military targets in russia,” he stressed.
The important and sensitive issue of sanctions pressure on the russian federation was also discussed. “russia manages to circumvent the restrictions, and we must destroy all the existing loopholes used by the aggressor state. Sanctions must completely block the development of the r#ussian military-industrial complex,” said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The parties paid special attention to the situation in the Ukrainian energy sector and the assistance that Ukraine needs to restore this sector.
In conclusion, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed the need to consolidate international support for the implementation of the President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's Peace Formula.