During the second session entitled Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. Areas Where We Are, Could and Must Be United and Work Together, Petras Vaitiekūnas, Signatory to the Act of Independence, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and diplomat of Lithuania, stressed the need to strengthen sanctions of the civilised world against Russia because of the ongoing war in Ukraine, provocations and barefaced lies to the world about the events in Ukraine.
In his view, Russian propaganda has crept into our lives therefore it is essential to describe exactly what is happening in Ukraine. "It is Russia's regular army that is waging war in Ukraine. How much evidence will it take to prove that separatists are soldiers of the regular Russian army, Russia's official mercenaries fighting on the Kremlin's side," said the diplomat who recently visited the war zone.
Mr Vaitiekūnas asserted that sanctions must be tied to the occupation of the Donbas and the Crimea rather than to peace in Donbas or the Minsk agreements. He also regretted that the West still needs evidence of the global nature of this conflict. According to him, the only way to avoid an armed conflict is to restrain the aggressor.
When speaking about the ongoing reforms in Ukraine, Mr Vaitiekūnas pointed out that the relationship with the public is too weak. But he is convinced that the reforms will certainly bear fruit, though major challenges await future governments, rather than the current one, because future leaders will have to look in the right direction of European civilisation.
Sharing his insights into the situation, Petras Vaitiekūnas emphasised the importance of bringing an end to President Putin's aggression in Ukraine and providing unconditional assistance to Ukraine. In his opinion, it is necessary to help Ukrainians knock at the doors of European leaders and unlock the hearts of Europeans, which could be achieved through the arts, culture and documentaries. "Let's buy their creative output, films and documentaries and show them to our people. Let's encourage our neighbours to do the same," he said.
The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania proposes forming an anti-Putin front in Russia and facilitating the procedures for granting citizenship of our country to Russian citizens who strongly oppose Putin's aggressive policy. "It is important to understand that it is not Russia or Russians that are waging war and that it is President Putin's and the Kremlin's aggression," said Mr Vaitiekūnas. In his view, the Russian people are obsessed with false ideas of unfair treatment of Russians everywhere, revival of fascism in the world, and their right to use nuclear weapons to defend Russian-speaking people.
At the end of his speech, Petras Vaitiekūnas noted that Ukraine needs money and that it has to solve social problems. Therefore we must open up our labour market to people from Ukraine, allow them to earn money and to return with this money to Ukraine. Mr Vaitiekūnas also suggested creating a fund for support to Ukraine and civil society and reviving the idea of twin cities. He also called for assistance to the war-torn cities and towns of Ukraine.
Other speakers at the second session included representatives from the delegation of the Sejm and Senate of Poland and the delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The interparliamentary assembly was established in Lutsk, Ukraine, in May 2005. It is a consultative interparliamentary body intended to discuss issues and projects of common interest. The assembly comprises parliamentary delegations from the Lithuanian Seimas, the Polish Sejm and Senate, and the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, ten members each.
