MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. The leader of Russia's parliamentary lower house said on Thursday that an Interparliamentary Liaison Group on Ukraine, established on the platform of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) more than a year ago, could not start working because of Kiev’s stance.
State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin told journalists that members of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly met on Wednesday on the sidelines of an annual session in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
"Certainly, it is still not the format initiated by the Russian delegation more than a year ago at the OSCE PA session in Baku. The Parliamentary Assembly supported the initiative to create an Interparliamentary Liaison Group on Ukraine," Naryshkin said.
"Unfortunately, it has not started its work yet, primarily because of the Ukrainian side’s position," he said.
The lawmaker added that Wednesday’s meeting was held under the patronage of OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva. The sides discussed implementation of the Minsk ceasefire agreements and settlement of the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
The Liaison Group, an initiative first proposed by Speaker Naryshkin and adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly as part of its 2014 Baku Declaration, aims to bring together members of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations to the OSCE PA, as well as a number of OSCE parliamentarians from other participating states, to promote dialogue and de-escalation of the conflict.