Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We did not get the opportunity to debate that issue then, but now that the ambassador is here, maybe he can recall that incident. I am recalling for him the fact that it was the most insensitive correspondence this committee has ever received from an ambassador. I am not a diplomat; I am a street fighter and a politician. I do not want to be offensive, but I want to express anger in an inoffensive way.

I am the first to agree that ultra-right-wing forces were at the barricades in Kiev and that either eight, ten or 12 riot police were shot dead by demonstrators, but I also agree that the riot police used live ammunition to massacre 80 civilians. There are two sides to every story. It is very sad that the ambassador should suggest we are trying to demonise Russia. I hold Russia in the height of respect. The role Russia has played historically and the Red Army's role in the liberation of the world and Europe must be recorded. One would wonder at the sacrifice of so many sons of Russian mothers so that Russia can behave as it does towards Ukraine today. We do not demonise Russia. It is not an artificially created conflict. This is probably one of the most serious conflicts in world politics in this century.

While I agree that conservative, right-wing and ultra-right-wing forces were at play, they constituted a minority. What happened in Ukraine was a popular demand for economic and political change. People were so frustrated they took to the streets. Sadly, some ultra-right-wing activists jumped on that democratic demonstration and exacerbated the conflict with the police. While the right wing was active there - Russia keeps claiming that its reason for moving in was the threat of the ultra-right - I am sickened at the sight of Russia's own neo-Nazis and skinheads. Every other week we see videos of Russia's own ultra-right, fascist skinheads terrorising the lesbian and gay community. Rather than demonise the right wing of Ukraine, Russia might look very closely at its own right wing. The extreme right is already elected in Russia. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia has 56 seats. How does Russia square that?

What worries me most is that, notwithstanding the fact that Russia is one of the 56 members of the OSCE, it has deliberately frustrated the OSCE observers in their attempts to enter Crimea. Does the ambassador not agree - clearly he does not, but I will ask him anyway - that Russia has already broken the Charter of the United Nations, the OSCE Helsinki Final Act and the specific commitments in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances?

What sort of friendship agreement would it be? The bilateral treaty of friendship, co-operation and partnership was signed in 1997. It is time we sat down and tried to understand each other's positions. Nobody is demonising Mr. Peshkov or his country. We recognise that the international tensions are dangerous for humanity, Russians and western and eastern Ukrainians that we must talk and find a solution which I argue is the one proposed by the European Union.