Ukraine counting on U.S. support – Speaker Parubiy

Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy said this during a meeting with U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

“We count on further support of the United States of America so that our guys return home as soon as possible. This is the main task for Ukraine now,” Parubiy said.

At the same time, the speaker thanked Volker and the U.S. leadership for the strong support of Ukraine during the recent act of Russian aggression in the Kerch Strait.

Parubiy stressed that “it is very important for Ukraine to be able to prepare for possible aggressive actions of the Russian Federation.“

 “We cannot allow the Russian Federation to declare the Sea of Azov its internal waters,” Parubiy added.

He informed Volker that the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the adjacent zone, which would allow "more efficiently using the Ukrainian Armed Forces to protect the maritime border."

As reported, on November 25, Russian border ships committed aggressive actions against Ukrainian vessels that set sail from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. Russian special forces fired on and captured three Ukrainian vessels and 24 sailors in the Kerch Strait.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law approving the decree of the President of Ukraine on the imposition of the martial law for 30 days in 10 regions of Ukraine in connection with the aggression of Russia.

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