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Russian MP hopes for soonest convocation of inter-parliamentary contact group on Ukraine

The inter-parliamentary contact group on Ukraine was set up in Baku at the end of June on the initiative of the Russian State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin

Russian State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin Anna Isakova/Russian State Duma's press service/TASS

Russian State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin

© Anna Isakova/Russian State Duma's press service/TASS

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russian State Duma (lower house) Speaker Sergey Naryshkin said on Monday he hoped for the soonest convocation of the first session of the inter-parliamentary contact group on Ukraine within the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Parliamentary Assembly.

“I am sure that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will not only discuss problems, but it will seek the normalization of the situation,” Naryshkin said in his letter to OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva.

“I want to believe that the Verkhovna Rada leaders will not repeat the mistake of their predecessors and realize the importance of the work within such promising format,” he said.

The inter-parliamentary contact group on Ukraine was set up in Baku at the end of June on the initiative of the Russian State Duma speaker. The purpose of the group is to present recommendations on the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and to inform the OSCE about the events in the country's south-east. The first session had to be held on October 2 on the sidelines of the OSCE PA in Geneva. But it failed because several countries, including the USA, Poland and Ukraine, refused to take part in it.

Naryshkin said he hoped that the OSCE “will exert effort to improve a direct dialogue between Kiev and Donetsk and Luhansk for preventing the bloodshed and ensuring long-term stability.”

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine OSCE Sergey Naryshkin

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