Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
and Chairman of the Inter-Factional
Parliamentary Association of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ”Inter-Parliamentary
Dialogue for Peace: Ukraine-Russia-Germany-France” Viktor Medvedchuk discussed
the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.
Viacheslav Volodin noted that without dialogue there is no trust, and without trust there is no development. This is the second meeting of Viacheslav Volodin with Viktor Medvedchuk — that means the dialogue is ongoing.
“We agreed on concrete steps, to work out solutions that will unite us, and not split us,” Viacheslav Volodin said and emphasized the importance of the Normandy format within the parliamentary dimension.
“It is necessary for our colleagues from France and Germany to join the process launched by the Ukrainian side. Our President supported it, and today we discussed issues that should unite our efforts, that, via parliamentary dimension and lawmaking issues, will allow us to reach the implementation of the Minsk Agreements,” said the Chairman of the State Duma.
“This is a very important issue because it provides for the adoption of laws that would bring peace to Ukrainian soil, and we must do everything necessary for this,” he said.
At the meeting, Viacheslav Volodin emphasized that Russia and Ukraine are neighbors, the length of the common border is more than 2,000 km, and it is important to establish a dialogue. Viktor Medvedchuk supported this idea and stated that “countries and peoples should be friendly, and what has happened in recent years is a huge strategic mistake.”
“We have the opportunity to move forward, involving as many colleagues as possible in this process. Then there will be a mutual understanding. Perhaps we will have some suggestions through model laws, through issues related to the harmonization of legislation. Well, we will better understand each other. Because it’s impossible to understand each other through the optical sight of the weapon. Trust appears only through dialogue, only trust leads to the development of relations,” said Viacheslav Volodin.
Viktor Medvedchuk congratulated the Russian parliamentarians on the “historical event” — the adoption of the second and main reading of amendments to the Constitution.
He called this meeting productive. The parliamentarian recognized the complexity of the current situation in Ukraine. “Therefore, we are implementing one of the serious steps, which is called the “parliamentary dimension of the Normandy format”. That's what President Vladimir Putin called it in December,” Viktor Medvedchuk reminded.
“We
proposed meetings of parliamentarians from Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany,” he said. Viktor Medvedchuk believes that the heads of state can
greatly assist parliamentarians. He informed that he had negotiations with
colleagues in Paris and Berlin, they discussed issues that could be the basis
of the agenda of a meeting of four delegations. Perhaps the meetings will be
held in April-May this year.
Viktor Medvedchuk told reporters that he “discussed with the colleagues from the State Duma these issues and they outlined that the next meeting should be a meeting of four delegations, and outlined the creation of a working group on procedural issues and an agenda that will be aimed at and can contribute to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, leading to peace in the Donbass and Ukraine.”
