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Zanda Kalnina-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, took part in the Yalta European Strategy Conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, which brought together the leaders of Ukraine - the President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence and leading members of the Verkhovna Rada, as well as experts and political leaders from around the world. Deputy Speaker Kalniņa-Lukaševica also took part in the European Defence Roundtable of the Munich Security Conference and met with the Deputy Speakers and Members of the Ukrainian Parliament.

"The sanctions imposed by the European Union and internationally so far have not stopped Russia's aggression against Ukraine. It is time for the next steps. Countermeasures to aggression must include the confiscation and transfer of Russian state assets to Ukraine. Decisions on this can be taken on the legal basis established by the resolutions adopted by the UN and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. There are such precedents in international law," said Z.Kalniņa-Lukaševica in a conversation with Oleksandr Korniyenko, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.

"With Ukraine needing funds to protect its land un with concerns being voiced within the European Union about its ability to unanimously maintain and strengthen the sanctions regime against Russia, it is time for partners to turn long talks into concrete actions," said Z.Kalniņa-Lukaševica. Another important aspect of the discussion was that the damage caused by Russia to Ukraine exceeds the amount of assets that are frozen and subject to confiscation. This eliminates the risk of having to repay them back to Russia.

During the conference, Deputy Speaker Kalnina-Lukaševica met with Deputy Speaker Olena Kondratiuk and a number of other members of the Verkhovna Rada. Latvia's bilateral support and leadership in the international arena, advocating on issues of importance to Ukraine, including the establishment of the Special Tribunal and the Compensation Mechanism, the implementation of the peace formula and the acceleration of Ukraine's integration into the European Union and NATO, were highly appreciated.

With Olena Khomenko, Chair of the Subcommittee on Defence Procurement of the Parliament of Ukraine and Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Z.Kalniņa-Lukaševica discussed the challenges Ukraine faces in procuring arms and ammunition, both in terms of limited funding and insufficient supplies.

Work also continued on an action plan to bring home the Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. This requires stepping up international pressure, involving a much broader group of countries than just traditional partners, agreed Z.Kalniņa-Lukaševica and O.Khomenko. They also agreed to bring to the forefront on the agenda of the Council of Europe the need to move faster on the issue of confiscation of frozen Russian state assets.

The Yalta European Strategy Conference discussions focused on the vision of the President of Ukraine regarding the necessary actions to achieve a Ukrainian victory. The motto of this year's Forum was: "The necessity to win". The discussions highlighted in particular the need for Ukraine to receive permission to use weapons against military targets on Russian territory in order to protect the lives of Ukrainian civilians and to enable Ukraine to win the fight against the aggressor. The possible involvement of partners in the shooting down of missiles and drones over Ukraine and the action to be taken in the event of them entering the territory of NATO countries were also discussed.

The European Defence Roundtable of the Munich Security Conference discussed military, political and economic support to Ukraine. To facilitate deep discussion and the opportunity to examine new solutions, the discussions are held in a closed format. Z.Kalniņa-Lukaševica participated in the discussion organised by the Munich Security Conference at the personal invitation of Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, President of the MSC Foundation Council.

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Saeima Press Service