Parliaments of Ukraine, Poland, Baltic states should join efforts to create intl. tribunal on Russian aggression – MP Kondratiuk

KYIV. Jan 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The priority tasks of the parliaments of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states should be the joining of efforts to create an International Special Tribunal for the Aggression of the Russian Federation and to receive reparations from Russia as soon as possible, Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Olena Kondratiuk has said.

"Obviously, now we need to unite the efforts of our parliaments against a common enemy, because the aggression of Russia, a terrorist country, is also an attack on parliamentary democracy. Therefore, the joint actions of parliaments, especially on two topical issues – the creation of the International Tribunal and the speedy receipt of reparations from Russia – are priorities for us," Kondratiuk said at a meeting with Polish Sejm Speaker Elzbieta Witek in Warsaw.

According to the press service of the Office of the Verkhovna Rada, Kondratiuk recalled that the day before, the speakers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a joint declaration with ten points on support for Ukraine and the need for a joint response to security challenges in Europe.

"Our friends and partners agreed to join the efforts of parliamentary diplomacy to strengthen sanctions against Russia and provide Ukraine with further military, economic, humanitarian support. Separately, the need to develop the parliamentary dimension of the Three Seas Initiative and the Crimean Platform was noted," she said.

Witek and Kondratiuk discussed the issue of involving the Verkhovna Rada in the implementation of joint initiatives of the parliaments of Poland and the Baltic states.

Kondratiuk thanked Witek for Poland’s leadership in providing Ukraine with Leopard tanks and efforts to create an international coalition to supply tanks for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She also called on the Sejm of Poland to follow the example of Estonia in developing and implementing a legal mechanism for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to compensate for the damage caused to Ukrainians.

"Russia must pay for the aggression today, because we don’t have time to wait for years for reparations," the Ukrainian parliament’s deputy chairperson said.

She noted that uniting the efforts of the parliamentary diplomacy of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries can make an even greater contribution to bringing closer the victory of Ukraine.

"Together with our partners, we must do our best for the victory of Ukraine," Witek said in response.