The role of parliaments is significant in preparing relevant decisions of the NATO Summit on Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk held a videoconference conversation with the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen.
First of all, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament thanked the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania and the Parliament of the Republic for their comprehensive, unwavering, constant and resolute support of Ukraine in countering russian aggression.
“I am grateful for the relevant calls to foreign partners of the EU and NATO member states to support Ukraine. I know that assistance to Ukraine has been identified as one of the priorities of the Seimas’ spring session, which we also greatly appreciate,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk.
At the same time, he stressed that Lithuania’s support for Ukraine’s NATO membership is very important for Ukraine. The Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament also expressed hope that significant results and clear decisions on Ukraine’s accession to NATO will be made at the NATO Summit to be held in Vilnius in July this year.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also thanked his Lithuanian counterpart for the invitation to take part in the meeting of NATO + Ukraine parliamentary speakers, which will precede the main summit in Vilnius.
“The role of parliaments is significant in preparing the relevant decisions of the Summit, so I count on the strong support of the Seimas of Lithuania. The meeting in June at the level of parliamentary speakers will be another opportunity to discuss the importance of Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance with our partners,” Ruslan Stefanchuk said.
The speakers also discussed Ukraine’s European integration prospects. Ruslan Stefanchuk called on Lithuania to support Ukraine’s aspirations to start negotiations on Ukraine’s full membership in the EU this year.
“We hope that the assessment of Ukraine’s implementation of the European Commission’s recommendations by the European institutions will be as high as possible. Our main task, which has been set by the President of Ukraine, the Parliament and the Government, is to start full-fledged negotiations this year. Then we will have the necessary amount of work, which I am sure we will complete quickly with the help of our friends, such as Lithuania,” the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine stressed.
The Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, stressed that she also hoped for significant results for Ukraine during the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius. She also assured her Ukrainian counterpart of Lithuania’s strong support for the adoption of the final summit resolution in favour of Ukraine.