Ukrainian parliament speaker hopes for PACE assistance in Savchenko release
KYIV. April 18 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada is asking the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to assist in the prompt release of Nadiya Savchenko, who was sentenced to 22 years in jail in Russia, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy said.
"We are asking the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to do everything possible to ensure that Nadiya Savchenko is back home with us as soon as possible. And I am sure that we will take maximum effort to ensure that this decision is made as soon as possible," Parubiy said at a meeting of the conciliatory council of the heads of factions, committees and groups on Monday.
He said debates on Savchenko will be conducted at the PACE session that opens in Strasbourg on Monday.
Parubiy said that Savchenko, who has gone on a dry hunger strike, is in serious condition. "We understand that all responsibility for that rests with President Putin. We understand that the negotiations [on the release of Savchenko] are going very difficultly," the parliament speaker said.
In the meantime, Volodymyr Aryev, chairman of Ukraine's permanent delegation to PACE, said the assembly has shifted the dates of the debate on the Savchenko case. "PACE has rescheduled the debate on Savchenko to Thursday. A special part of the report on POWs will be prepared. The other Ukrainian prisoners of the Kremlin will not be forgotten, either," the parliamentarian said on Facebook.
