Baku - Russian and Ukrainian delegations have agreed in Baku to form a joint group involving the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, head of the Russian delegation, State Duma international affairs committee head Alexei Pushkov told Interfax on June 30.
“In the framework of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session representatives of the Russian and Ukrainian delegation leadership met on Monday and we managed to agree on issues of essential importance,” Pushkov said.
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Chairman Ranko Krivokapic was a mediator, Pushkov said. “Though it can not be said that he fulfilled the role of a mediator because the atmosphere at this meeting was not confrontational and neither party posed almost any accusations to each other and no mutual reproaches occurred. I want to give credit to the cautious and reasonable approach of Ukraine,” Pushkov said.
It has been agreed to continue the dialogue started in Vienna on April 11, the same time when representatives of Russia and Ukraine along the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly met, Pushkov said. So the joint group, with a working name Baku Format upon the proposal of Krivokapic, will deal with issues related to every-day problems of people in the regions, which are in the center of the crisis in Ukraine, he said.
It concerns in particular legal issues and those related to pensions, citizenship, human rights and other problems, Pushkov said.
“Both Russia and Ukraine admitted that such a joint group is the optimal format to discuss certain cases and certain every-day problems,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine have also agreed that it is necessary to launch the international inter-parliamentary contact group of Ukraine, which means it will be established with the approval of both parties, Pushkov said.
The group will include eight to ten people and, naturally, representatives of Russia and Ukraine will be among them, Pushkov said. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly chairman will propose a person to head this group, he said.
According to Pushkov, the group might include representatives of the states, which are involved in the negotiating process on Ukraine the most. “Russia has proposed OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Chairman Krivokapic to determine certain countries and certain individuals and it is expected that within coming two days he will hold relevant consultations,” he said.
Representatives of Germany, Poland, France, Belarus, Finland and some other states could be included in this group, Pushkov said. It is possible that amid favorable situational development, if parties do not object to the group’s structure, it could be formed quite quickly, in other words, before the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session ends [on July 2], he said.
The goal of such a group is usually to prepare a relevant report, and during the first meeting the group might make decisions necessary for this, determine timelines and to which OSCE Parliamentary Assembly event the report will be ready.
The meeting held on June 30 was constructive and positive, Pushkov said.
