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Russia ties with Ukraine parliament mainly depend on its future line-up — lawmaker

Further cooperation and the degree of recognition of Verkhovna Rada will depend on its future line-up, says the first deputy chairman of the international committee of Russia's upper parliament house

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Further ties with Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will depend mainly on its future line-up, the first deputy chairman of the international committee of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house said at a meeting of the public panel supporting residents in south-east Ukraine on Thursday.

“We expect these elections (in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada) to take place on October 26. Our further cooperation with this parliament and the degree of its recognition will mainly depend on its future line-up,” Vladimir Dzhabarov noted.

He said he believes that Russian observers will not monitor elections. “We will just not be invited there,” the lawmaker said. “But if international observers find that elections were legitimate, we should see with whom we will work,” he added. “Unfortunately, I believe that frankly this Rada will have many people I do not want to shake hands with. Oleg Lyashko, for example. I do not find it possible to cooperate with such a politician,” the lawmaker noted.

Meanwhile, Dzhabarov added that the degree of legitimacy of Ukrainian early parliamentary elections is in question, because a huge territory of Luhansk and Donetsk regions already stated that they would not hold these elections, as the self-proclaimed republics intended to hold their own elections on November 2.

Concerns over Ukraine power-cleansing law

Speaking about the lustration law endorsed in Ukraine, Dzhabarov said that Russia’s parliament upper house Federation Council is concerned over this legislation seeking to cleanse almost all state authorities in the country. 

“We are concerned over the lustration law. I find it as an absolutely immoral law and it cannot be compared with the de-nazification process which was conducted in Germany after WWII,” first deputy chairman of the upper house committee for international affairs said at a meeting of the public panel supporting residents in southeast Ukraine on Thursday.

In the view of the Russian upper house member, this process is very dangerous now and may split the nation: "those who are found loyal to the state and those who are disloyal." "This is an igniting fuse for a future third Maidan,” he said.

The law cleansing state authorities widely known as the lustration law which Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, had endorsed on September 16 took effect on Thursday. One million officials of different levels, including the whole government, come under the effect of the law.

Ukrainian government already decided Thursday to fire 39 high-placed officials in executive authorities under the lustration law.