Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the ambassador for coming. It is positive that he has come to meet the joint committee, as it is very important that we hear the views of all sides. We can all agree that there are too many conflicts and far too much loss of life. We have also seen the way conflicts are hijacked by ultra fundamentalist groups to further their own ends. This has absolutely nothing to do with the people and their legitimate rights.

Russia is a member of the UN Security Council and the OSCE and a party to the Budapest memorandum and bilateral treaties and so on. Why were the issues of concern in respect of Ukraine not discussed by these agencies? Instead it seems matters were pre-empted because of Ukraine's interest in greater European integration. The deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine has brought about an extremely severe crisis.

Russia has used its veto at the Security Council on a number of occasions in relation to the situation in Syria, stating it wants to protect Syria's sovereignty. It agrees with the principle of non-intervention in domestic affairs, yet there is this interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs. I know Crimea has a chequered history, that Catherine the Great took it over in the 18th century. President Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine, to which President Yeltsin agreed. We are, therefore, looking at a violation of national sovereignty.

When the Ukrainian ambassador was here last week, he said language was not a problem. He told us he was a Russian speaking man from Sebastopol in Crimea. He was not able to learn Ukrainian in school because there was no Ukrainian language school. That was his very black and white statement. If there are issues about human rights and language, why can they not be addressed through the international organisations that deal with human rights issues?

Amnesty Internatinal has been calling for the establishment of an OSCE monitoring mission to calm tensions. What is the current position in this regard?

I take the opportunity to ask the Russian ambassador about Russian influence in Syria. The crisis in Syria is of mammoth proportions and the population are being starved. In time we will see images of people in Yarmouk and other cities similar to the pictures taken in Belsen and Auschwitz. Russia and Iran have a certain influence in one direction; the West has an influence in the other direction. How is Russia using its influence in dealing with the situation in Syria?

Let me deal with the issue of Russian troops. Will the ambassador commit to putting pressure on his government or bring back to it that the presence of Russian troops is not helping, that there is a need for negotiation, calmness and compromise? President Yanukovych opted to leave Ukraine, which was a significant factor in what was happening. We all agree that nobody wants to see the situation escalate to the point where it will be another Rwanda or Kosovo.