MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. Ukraine’s authorities do not recognize the existence of the Russian ethnic minority so the rights of Russians should be curtailed, speaker of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, or parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said on Monday.

"We insist that this bill (on national minorities - TASS) does not apply to national minorities which represent the country that has been recognized as an aggressor," he said in a televised interview.

"I am very thankful to the Venice Commission and the European Commission for heeding our reasoning and understanding the principle of mutual respect. If this nation does not demonstrate respect, but, on the contrary, indulges in aggression against Ukraine, its rights are to be restricted. We have found complete mutual understanding on this. That is why there are no Russian national minorities in Ukraine now nor can there be," he said.