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Ukraine parliament obviously needs to build ties with Russia - upper house lawmaker

“In any case no matter how political forces in a new Verkhovna Rada are formed they will have to resolve issues with Russian lawmakers and we are also interested in this,” he said

MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. A new Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, will have to build relations with Russian lawmakers, member of Russia’s parliament upper house Federation Council committee for international affairs Igor Morozov told TASS Monday in comments on Sunday’s Ukrainian early parliamentary election.

“In any case no matter how political forces in a new Verkhovna Rada are formed they will have to resolve issues with Russian lawmakers and we are also interested in this,” he said.

The Russian upper house member said with confidence that establishment of relations with Russia is “obviously needed” for a future Ukrainian parliament.

“We are neighbours, we are historically linked by common fate for many centuries and no matter how the situation in Ukraine emerged after February 2014, but the Verkhovna Rada should build relations with us at parliamentary level all the same,” he added.

Morozov added that after Rada’s governing bodies are set up Ukrainian and Russian lawmakers should “get in touch and determine a format and vector of co-operation.”

“Ukraine should become a bridge, but not a buffer zone between Russia, the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union,” the lawmaker noted.

Commenting on exit-poll results, Morozov noted that they reflected moods of Ukrainian voters.

“[President Pyotr] Poroshenko was fairly ahead of all jointly with his bloc, though he gained lower percentage than his party wanted to take,” he noted, adding that “23-25% is a quite good result in general to form a strong bloc already around himself.”

Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk’s People’s Front which scored more than 20% is also a serious claim for future control in the government, the upper house lawmaker said.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker is concerned over results of revanchist radical forces, including the Radical Party, Svoboda (freedom) and Batkivshchina which gained around 20% on aggregate.

“In fact, this is a quite impressive force in the Verkhovna Rada that can radicalise parliament’s work, but also destabilise presidential work,” he said he was concerned about this.