MOSCOW, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of
parliament is ready to cooperate with the new assembly in
Ukraine, its chairman said on Wednesday, although it will be
dominated by pro-Western forces.
Parties that want to move Kiev further away from Moscow's
orbit towards mainstream Europe will lead the Verkhovna Rada
after an election on Sunday, held despite fighting between
government forces and pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.
"We hope that the newly elected Verkhovna Rada will make its
contribution to ending the civil war, resolving the crisis and
de-escalating tensions," Russian news agencies Sergei Naryshkin,
the speaker of the State Duma lower house, as saying.
"Duma lawmakers are ready for any contacts, for the
restoration of normal inter-parliamentary relations."
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Moscow will
recognise the outcome of the election even though voting did not
take place in rebel-held areas in the east and forces
traditionally loyal to Moscow performed poorly.
The head of the international affairs committee in the
Federation Council, the upper house, was quoted by Russian media
as saying his chamber would also cooperate with the Ukrainian
parliament although he said it was hard to see how this would
work out in practice.
Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the conflict in
eastern Ukraine, in which more than 3,700 people have been
killed since mid-April.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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