This week, alongside the Ukrainian Recovery Conference which is taking place in London, I had the opportunity to meet with the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament.
Oleksandr Kornienko is the First Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, and we discussed the situation in Ukraine following Putin’s illegal war, and I received an update on what has taken place since my visit to Kyiv in February of this year.
Mr Kornienko also updated me on the reaction in Ukraine to the House of Commons approving my motion to recognise the Holodomor as a genocide against the Ukrainian people. In May, I proposed this step, which many of Ukraine’s allies have already taken, and I was delighted that the House of Commons voted unanimously in favour.
President Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, and the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada all welcomed this vote publicly on social media, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss it on a more detailed basis with Mr Kornienko and his colleagues from the Ukrainian Parliament.