Ukrainian delegation headed by the First Deputy Speaker Oleksandr Korniienko has started work at the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
On 23-27 March, a 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.
According to Lesia Vasylenko, a member of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, during the first days of the Assembly, which brings together representatives of 180 parliaments, Ukrainian delegates have already, among other things, “shot down” russian amendments to the resolution on climate partnerships and environmental responsibility, and held a briefing in the 12+ political group on the situation in Ukraine, given the last three days of merciless shelling.
The Ukrainian MPs also appealed to the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Speaker of the Parliament of Tanzania, to make clear and loud statements from the IPU condemning violators of international law whenever such violations occur.
At the same time, according to Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi, the member of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, the main topics of this half-year at the IPU Assembly in Geneva are the impact of artificial intelligence on the development of autonomous weapons, democracy and human rights, climate change, and UN reform. “The cross-cutting issues are the escalation of conflicts on the planet and humanitarian crises,” he said, adding that the task of Ukrainian delegates, among other things, is to promote Ukrainian narratives.
Events with the participation of the Ukrainian delegation headed by First Vice-Speaker Oleksandr Korniienko on the sidelines of the 148th IPU Assembly
On the first day of the working visit, Oleksandr Merezhko, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, addressed the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, urging the IPU to adopt resolutions to punish the aggressor. “It is impossible to build bridges for peace and understanding at the 148th IPU Assembly if we are not all together with Ukraine,” he stressed.
In addition, Oleksandr Merezhko stressed that the text of the draft resolution to be adopted by the IPU Assembly cannot be adopted without addressing the issue of aggression. “Weapons in the hands of the aggressor state, which uses it to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure, are a crime under international law, while the use of the same weapons by the victim of aggression for defence, protection of civilians, is absolutely justified,” he said, citing the example of the aggressor state of russia, which a number of parliaments have already recognised as a terrorist neo-nazi regime, using drones to kill civilians on a daily basis. At the same time, another terrorist regime, iran, provides russia with drones, thus being an accomplice in the genocide against Ukrainians. “We must address this issue in our resolution, we must not turn a blind eye to the use of weapons, in particular, autonomous weapons systems, by terrorist regimes, such as the genocidal russian empire,” said Oleksandr Merezhko.
After the speech of the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, Oleksandr Merezhko, the russian delegation “protested”.
In addition, Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi, the member of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, joined the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Committee on the United Nations. The meeting discussed how international law and courts can help reduce the use of military force in conflict resolution. Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi expressed the unpleasant truth that there is a dangerous situation with the UN's inability to stop aggression and international crimes. “We see how one nuclear country, the russian federation, commits acts of aggression universally recognised by the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice, while other states are afraid to act effectively and in a timely manner,” he said, adding that russia, in violation of the UN Charter, has usurped and taken a seat in the UN Security Council instead of all the former soviet republics. “The UN needs a mechanism for a joint response of countries that can effectively paralyse the aggressor's war machine and provide all the necessary military support for a non-nuclear response. The aggressor country should automatically lose the right to veto such decisions in the UN Security Council,” Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi stressed in his speech.
A number of important meetings – with delegations from Sierra Leone, Malaysia, Uruguay, Argentina and the Group of 12+
In a dialogue with the President of the Chamber of Senators of the General Assembly of Uruguay, Beatriz Argimón, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko focused on urgent issues, such as the implementation of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Global Peace Summit. He also expressed his expectation that the country would join the relevant processes. “We also hope to intensify bilateral relations in various areas of cooperation, in particular, through interparliamentary relations,” the First Vice Speaker said.
The Ukrainian delegates also informed their colleagues about the recent russian shelling of Ukrainian cities and damage to civilian infrastructure. In addition, they said that work is underway to create a maritime corridor across the Black Sea after the russian federation's withdrawal from the grain corridor.
“We have lost some territories and some territories are mined, but we have managed to preserve most of them we remain the guarantor of food security,” said Oleksandr Korniienko.
For her part, the President of the Chamber of Senators of the General Assembly of Uruguay, Beatriz Argimón, said she had been to Bucha and stressed that her country should stand with Ukraine. She noted that Uruguay is ready to invite the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi to address the Parliament at his request: “It is important for us to support democracy.” The First Vice Speaker Oleksandr Korniienko also stressed that a meeting between the parliamentary committees on foreign affairs should be planned and organised.
At the same time, Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi said that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is ready to establish a friendship group with representatives of the Uruguayan Parliament.
The Ukrainian MPs discussed food security issues with the Sierra Leonean delegation.The First Deputy Speaker Oleksandr Kornienko stressed that Ukraine continues to implement the global humanitarian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”, having successfully held the second Summit on this issue in Kyiv.
Oleksandr Merezhko stressed that Ukraine is willing to hold the Peace Summit in Switzerland and noted that Ukraine needs Sierra Leone's assistance in implementing the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi. For her part, Lesia Vasylenko thanked the representatives of Sierra Leone for their assistance in voting in favour of Ukraine at the UN.
In addition, Artur Herasymov, the member of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, informed his colleagues about the situation with the Ukrainian agricultural industry, as Ukraine continues to work to provide grain to those who need it. He also stressed that the shelling of Ukrainian ports by the russian federation is a major problem, which results in logistical problems across the sea and Europe.
For his part, the Speaker of the Parliament of Sierra Leone, Abass Bundu, stressed that Ukraine can be sure of Sierra Leone's support, as it is “rooted in human rights and international law”.
At the same time, Oleksandr Merezhko, Arsenii Pushkarenko, Olha Rudenko and Lesia Vasylenko had a fruitful meeting with the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Malaysian Parliament, Wong Chen, who heads the Group of Friendship with Ukraine. With the Malaysian representatives, Oleksandr Merezhko, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, stressed a number of important issues, including the recent shelling of Ukraine by russia, which has destroyed civilian and critical infrastructure, as well as the frozen assets of russia that should be used for the benefit of Ukraine.
Finally, the 148th IPU Assembly held a question and answer session with members of the 12+ geopolitical group. The session was attended by representatives of Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, France, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Estonia, Norway and Finland.
“This is an opportunity to learn first-hand about the situation in Ukraine. We communicate with the soldiers at the front and know about the priority needs to fight the enemy. Ammunition and artillery are a matter of saved lives of our people,” said Oleksandr Korniienko, while also focusing on demining equipment.
The parties also discussed the use of frozen assets of the russian ederation. “An equally important issue is to increase sanctions pressure on russia,” said the First Vice-Speaker.
He noted that the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union is a platform that can bring a just victory closer and stabilise the global security situation. “We have to work through various tools available to all of us, including the adoption of strong resolutions, work in committees and frank dialogues during bilateral meetings,” said the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
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.