On 2 April 2025, an interdepartmental meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha, on the development of the main principles of Ukraine’s state policy regarding interaction with the national movements of the colonial peoples of the Russian Federation.
The meeting was attended by National Deputies of Ukraine Maria Mezentseva-Fedorenko, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, and Oleg Dunda – members of the temporary special commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on preparing a draft of the main principles of Ukraine’s state policy regarding interaction with national movements of small and indigenous nations of the Russian Federation, representatives of ministries and departments, research institutions, and public organizations.
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss draft law 11402, which was developed and introduced by more than 80 national deputies of Ukraine in cooperation with academic and public expert circles. The meeting participants noted the relevance and importance of its adoption and discussed key areas of revision after the first reading.
“For centuries, Moscow has pursued an imperial, colonial policy aimed at the destruction and assimilation of other nations. It is time to seriously promote at the international level the topic of protecting and restoring the rights of all those whom the Kremlin tried to dissolve in the Russian imperial project and deprive of their own identity. It is time to work on overcoming Russian colonial influence in everything: from politics and history to language and culture. I am grateful to all colleagues, government officials, national deputies, and experts already engaged in this important matter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ready to continue to play its important role,” emphasized Minister Andriy Sybiha.
“The decolonization of the Russian Federation and promotion of the national self-determination of its colonial nations, following the fundamental norms of international law, have recently been supported by several international resolutions, and this process is consistent with the fundamental UN documents,” said Maria Mezentseva-Fedorenko, head of the Temporary Special Commission (TSC) of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on preparing a draft of the main principles of Ukraine’s state policy regarding interaction with national movements of small and indigenous nations of the Russian Federation.
National Deputy of Ukraine, Chairman of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech Yaroslav Yurchyshyn emphasized: “I am grateful to all present for their constructiveness. We will win when the nations enslaved by Russia gain the opportunity to self-determine.”
Following the meeting of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, it was recommended to consider draft law 11402 at its meeting as soon as possible and recommend adopting it as a basis in the first reading with further revisions before the second reading, under the provisions of Part 1 of Article 116 of the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, with the participation of relevant central executive bodies, specialized academic and public organizations.
