Parliament’s Chair meets Eurasia Center Director J.Herbst
28 August 2018, 20:00
The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy met a delegation from the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center headed by the Director John Herbst
The participants of the meeting discussed the situation in Ukraine’s east, the challenges of the hybrid war with Russia and the fight against corruption in the country.
The Chairman of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy thanked the attendants for the support of Ukraine in the difficult times, both economically and including arms. At the same time, he stressed that "the symbol of friendship and support per se is even more important for Ukrainians than the arms".
The Parliament’s head expressed his confidence that joint efforts would help liberate Ukraine: "Not only its lands does Ukraine protect, but the entire civilized world and the whole Euro-Atlantic space".
Individually, he thanked John Herbst for his continued support of Ukraine and expressed his condolences on the death of Senator John McCain - "an example of heroism, patriotism and love to the Motherland".
Addressing U.S. congressmen’s questions, the Chairman outlined the situation in eastern Ukraine. A. Parubiy pointed out this is not a conflict, but aggression against Ukraine by of one of the most militarily powerful countries in the world. "With the help of blitzbuggies and modern weapons our territories have been captured," he said. “Actually, this is a real challenge to the world order after the Second World War". The politician stressed that Putin has been doing his dance wherever he considers he owns the “dance floor” - hence the Baltic States, Poland and Georgia are well in the know and worried a lot lest they would be next once they fail to unite in the face of the Russian aggression".
Andriy Parubiy underlined that the war would be over someday, and then he reminded of the Berlin Wall in Germany, built by the communist regime, which had been ended likewise.
Answering a question on combating corruption within Ukraine, A. Parubiy recalled the implementation of e-declaration, which is unparalleled in the world, about the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention and the Anti-Corruption Court, which is the closing link in the entire anti-corruption structure.
The Chairperson also stated that corruption had already been eradicated out from some spheres, in particular in the gas sector, and then he reminded that a thousand days had recently been marked as Ukraine did not buy “no cubic meter of gas” from the Russian Federation.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada called privatization of state-owned enterprises to be among strongest cures for venal practices.
A.Parubiy also spoke about the latest methods of influencing and conducting a hybrid war against Ukraine and the whole free world.
"A military component of the war is important, but not a polar one," he said. - There is a war for minds and hearts of people. Information warfare and cyber-attacks have in no way second importance than the military component does".
He also highlighted the idea of setting up a center for combating hybrid aggression, which would be an interregional center, including Georgia, the Baltic States, Poland, Moldova, and others.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also appealed to members of the delegation to use their influence upon the decision to recognize the Holodomor in Ukraine. "Millions of Ukrainians were killed for only being Ukrainians".
The Ukrainian Parliament’s Speaker stressed that the hybrid war is also a question of constructing a gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, which sure is of a political nature and endangers the economic independence of European countries. Andriy Parubiy also called on the delegation of American experts to make difference to adoption of the resolution on imposing sanctions, thus counteracting the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.