Zelenskyy will not be able to address extraordinary plenary session of PACE

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not be able to address the extraordinary plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and instead Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will give a speech on Zelenskyy's behalf, PACE Chairman Tiny Kox said on Monday.

The two-day extraordinary plenary session of PACE is being held from Monday to Tuesday in the French city of Strasbourg due to Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. The consequences of the operation were put on the agenda of the session.

"As President Zelenskyy, who I invited to participate in this session, has informed me that due to very urgent unforeseen circumstances he will not be able to address our assembly now, and instead he has asked the prime minister of Ukraine to speak on his behalf. I propose that we take note of this message and we have full understanding that the president of Ukraine is now in a such time constraint that he could not make it at this moment and we are eager to go to listen to the speech of the prime minister of Ukraine, Mr. Denys Shmyhal, later this morning," Kox told the opening session.

The chairman noted that Shmyhal will address the assembly at 4 p.m. Paris time (15:00 GMT) later on Monday.

On February 24, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )