MOSCOW, May 15. /ITAR-TASS/. Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Ties with Compatriots Leonid Slutsky does not rule out a possibility of unfreezing the inter-parliamentary contacts between Russia and Ukraine after the presidential election in the latter country on May 25.

“If the situation comes back to normal after the election, we should consider a format of inter-parliamentary collaboration and how to use this format for a positive response to the situation from Ukraine,” Slutsky said at the committee’s meeting on Thursday.

The lawmaker said the “situation is difficult” adding that the Ukrainian parliament “is still maintaining a legitimate status.”

“I strongly believe we will be able to find practical tools aimed at bringing advantages for our compatriots, the Russian world and the currently frozen inter-parliamentary relations,” he said.

Speaking of the forthcoming presidential election in Ukraine on May 25, Slutsky recalled the saying “better one-eyed than stone-blind” and said that “elections are still better than power vacuum.”

“The top priority task should be to stop bloodshed and to ease tensions around the Russian language,” he said. “This in itself would be a good deal to start off from.