Ukraine's presidential and autumn parliamentary elections must not disrupt or slow down efforts to address the situation of our eastern neighbours, and to do everything we can to alleviate their suffering. This according to Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák, who was speaking in Washington after meeting with US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker. Lajčák said he informed Volker about the steps taken by Slovakia in its current role as President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and about other concrete plans in Ukraine. "He said we have the full support of the American side, that the plan is known to them, and that they consider it ambitious, but feasible," said Lajčák. The negotiating teams now have to wait for the outcome of the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine. Nonetheless, Lajčák and Volker agreed that neither the presidential election, nor Ukraine's parliamentary elections later this year, should slow down efforts to resolve the situation in Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Lajčák is in Washington on a three-day business trip. On Wednesday, he will present the priorities of Slovakia's OSCE Presidency to the Helsinki Committee of the US Congress. The Committee monitors compliance with the principles adopted in Helsinki at the 1975 Conference on Security and Cooperation, and also addresses the OSCE agenda. He will also attend a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty and to speak at a conference on the past and future of the Alliance.
