First vice-speaker refuses return fire ban and starts in turn a new proposal for TCGroup in Minsk
06 June 2019, 18:00
At the morning plenary session on June 6, the first vice-speaker Iryna Herashchenko submitted her comments on the draft resolution on resignation of S. Poltorak from the post of Ukraine’s defence minister (Resolution No. 10344 dated 30.05.2019).
"It is indeed among the president’s constitutional rights to dismiss the minister of defence. However, in his inaugural speech, the president did not, unfortunately, thank Stepan Poltorak, who had been immediately involved in reforming the army for all these years and has a great prestige among officers and soldiers. He, the president, only called on to lodge a resignation letter," I. Herashchenko grieved to say.
She expressed her hope that the President of Ukraine would find the time and pick the words to thank the Minister of Defence of Ukraine for the great work that has been done over the past years.
During her speech, I.Herashchenko also commented on the results of the June 5 meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (aka TCGroup or TCG) in Minsk. The politician put the focus upon the importance of keeping dialogue over the release of hostages and improving the humanitarian situation in the Donbas.
"It is obvious today, there is no alternative to political and diplomatic negotiations on settling the Donbas situation. All of us are seeking peace, but not through capitulation,” I. Herashchenko noted.
The First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reminded that a cease-fire regime had been declared in the Donbas some 19 times over the past few years, but none of them had been executed by the Russian Federation.
"When they say today that we should not fire in return, I would advise them to visit military hospitals, in particular in Kharkiv, where there are soldiers injured severely in the Luhansk-Donetsk neck of the woods," I. Herashchenko emphasized.
The politician noted that the directives, guiding representatives of the TCG sub-groups in Minsk, should be complemented by an important point about launching an additional sub-group in charge of returning the Ukrainian-Russian border under Ukraine’s control.