KIEV, January 29. /TASS/. Chairman of the Political Council of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk does not believe in the possibility of a Russian invasion, as he himself told the UkrLive TV channel on Saturday.
"Tensions are mounting over Russian troops allegedly planning to invade Ukraine. Excuse me, but if the issue exists in the imagination of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky and his circle, if it is as dangerous as they are describing it to our fellow citizens, then they should do something," the politician pointed out. At the same time, in his words, the Kiev authorities "aren’t doing the right thing demanding new sanctions be imposed on Russia at every level and requesting weapons." "I personally don’t believe in an invasion," Medvedchuk stressed.
He pointed out that Russia had offered dialogue to Ukraine. "When Mr Volodin, the State Duma chairman and one of Russia’s senior officials, says that ‘we are prepared to hold dialogue at the level of lawmakers, so send a delegation of legislators, Verkhovna Rada members to meet with State Duma members,’ it doesn’t look like a policy of invasion," Medvedchuk noted.
Russia’s State Duma (the lower house of parliament) earlier formed groups for cooperation with other countries’ parliaments. Its group on cooperation with Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada is headed by United Russia member Yevgeny Popov. He said earlier in an interview with the Parlamentskaya Gazeta newspaper that he planned "to communicate not only with members of parliamentary parties but also with non-parliamentary political forces.".