VR calls for boycott of Inter-Parliamentary Union’s session in St. Petersburg

05.10.2017 13:15

Ukrinform

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has called on member countries of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) not to participate in the next 137th IPU’s session, which is planned to be held in St. Petersburg.

A total of 249 Ukrainian MPs voted in favor of the relevant draft law, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Next week, the Russian Federation and the State Duma deputies, who will try to make every effort so that sanctions be cancelled, have initiated the holding of the 137th session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, just imagine, in St. Petersburg, which will be dedicated to the centenary of the October Revolution. The Revolution that brought blood and death to Ukraine," said First Deputy Speaker Iryna Gerashchenko.

According to her, the Verkhovna Rada approved the bill to boycott the 137th IPU session.

“We are calling on the parliaments of member countries of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to refrain from participating in the 137th session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which is planned to be held in the state that violates the principles of the Charter of the IPU and the UN Charter,” Gerashchenko said.