John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Mr. Merezhko is very welcome. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to him and his colleagues. I am also delighted that we are by the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland as part of our ongoing engagement and commitment to standing with the people of Ukraine on everything the country asks and its right to territorial integrity. I do not think I need to restate my position. I am very clear about what needs to happen with regard to Russia. There must be a complete withdrawal of its troops and the territorial integrity of the Ukraine must be protected.

Mr. Merezhko is sitting in the darkness with a candle beside him. We have seen Russia's onslaught on critical infrastructure, including electricity generation. Some of the most recent reports state that about 30% of Ukraine's electricity infrastructure has been destroyed. Will Mr. Merezhko update us on that?

With regard to specific requests, the EU has given Ukraine about 500 generators. That is completely insufficient, particularly in the context of the needs that were just outlined and the harsh winter that lies before the Ukrainian people. What are the requirements and what impacts are the attacks on the country's critical infrastructure having?

I note that €9 billion has been set aside by the EU for reconstruction. It is very early to carry out a full assessment for how much the total rebuilding of Ukraine will cost after the conflict. Perhaps Mr. Merezhko can give some insight into what that assessment might be.

In recent weeks, Russia has made threats to use nuclear weapons, which would bring us to a place that no one expected us to be in this century, namely, not only an illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia but also threats of nuclear attack. What is the current situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor. There has been considerable focus on the continued attacks on the reactor. I know the plant has been off-grid a number of times. Will Mr. Merezhko give us a damage assessment and an insight into what is happening there? More important, what needs to happen to ensure that the nuclear threat, whether an attack on the reactor or the use of nuclear weapons, is not realised?

Where a country is in breach of international law, the perpetrators must be held to account for their crimes. That is very much the case with Ukraine. The aggressor here, Russia, must be held to account for its crimes. I note the work that has been undertaken by the International Criminal Court, ICC, and I welcome the proactive position taken by the Irish Government, including a commitment of €3 million. Some of Mr Merezhko’s colleagues were before the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs recently. The chair of the Ukrainian Parliament's committee on EU affairs, Ms Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, attended and I asked her about those investigations.

I understand the latest figures show that, as of September, around 34,000 investigations into war crimes were active. Unfortunately, that figure will have grown since then. I ask Mr. Merezhko to give us the current figure on the number of investigations being carried out. I asked his colleague what assistance may be or is required to help with those investigations. Given that so many need to be carried out, it is critical that all the evidence is collected as quickly as possible to ensure that all cases, when they come before the ICC, stand up and the perpetrators are held to account. Ms Klympush-Tsintsadze stated in May that Ukraine had asked countries to send forensics experts and special prosecutors to Ukraine to help deal with these crimes and document them in accordance with the standards necessary for the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. Are there specific requirements at this point to assist in that crucial work to hold the perpetrators to account? Many countries have sent investigators, forensic scientists and so on. Are there any gaps there or other requirements?

I will raise the use of humanitarian aid as a weapon of war by Russia. I am thinking of the catastrophic conditions in places such as the Horn of Africa and how important grain from Ukraine is to the region. Russia has stopped co-operating with the recent agreement. Will Mr. Merezhko give the committee an insight into the current position in that regard? Exports have continued despite Russia pulling back from the agreement.

Mr. Merezhko touched on the reasons Ukraine will not negotiate or speak to Russia, which is fully understandable. The White House national security adviser, Mr. Jake Sullivan, was in Kyiv last week.

It was widely reported - I am unsure if it was being attributed to Mr. Sullivan or to some other senior US officials - that Ukraine was being urged to signal that it is still open to diplomatic discussions with Russia. It was suggested that there may be a wariness among some donors who have been assisting Ukraine and this was seen as some sort of an attempt to shore up that public support in some quarters which may be starting to diminish. Perhaps Mr. Merezhko might comment on this, noting all of the reasons Russia should not be negotiated with, but perhaps referring to those earlier comments which have been attributed to Mr. Sullivan.