The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk met with the President of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany Bärbel Bas
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 Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament expressed his gratitude to Germany for all the assistance provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion, as well as to Ms Bas personally, who is a loyal and reliable friend of Ukraine.
During the substantive conversation, a number of important issues were discussed. The main focus was on the security situation in Ukraine, in particular, russia's crimes and attacks against the civilian population and infrastructure of the country, as well as the daily shelling of the territory of Ukraine by russia. In this regard, Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed the need for further defence support and the importance of continuous and timely supply of weapons, including air defence systems, long-range missiles and artillery.
Particular attention was paid to the need to be able to hit russian military targets with weapons provided by partners and allies.
The speakers of the Ukrainian and German parliaments paid special attention to strengthening sanctions pressure against russia. Ruslan Stefanchuk pointed out that, despite the existing restrictions, Russia manages to circumvent sanctions. “Therefore, it is extremely important to block any opportunities for avoiding them,” he stressed.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expressed gratitude to Germany for participating in the First Global Peace Summit, which demonstrated the unity of the international community. He praised Germany's support for Ukraine's European integration and expressed hope for the same support for Ukraine's integration into NATO.
It is worth noting that this is the third meeting between Ruslan Stefanchuk and Bärbel Bas at the Group of Seven Parliamentary Speakers' Conference. “We will always appreciate the support of Germany, which helped Ukraine to be invited to the conference in Berlin in 2022. We took part in the Tokyo conference in 2023, and today – in Verona. And this is very symbolic, as it demonstrates the ongoing and productive cooperation between Ukraine and Germany,” the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine said at the end of the meeting.