I am very grateful for this invitation. The direct exchange of views on any issues of interest to both sides is positive and helpful to deepening the understanding between us, our countries and our countries' politicians.
First of all, it is my duty to say a couple of words about the bilateral relations between Russia and Ireland. I must stress that we are ready for business interaction on all levels, including contacts between parliamentarians of both countries. In previous years, Russian and Irish parliamentarians planned some positive initiatives, for example, the boosting of activities of the group of friends of Russia in the Dáil and the visit of the speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house, of the federal assembly of the Russian Federation, Mrs. Valentina Matvienko, to Ireland.
Unfortunately, I do not have the exact figures for this year, but in 2015, the volume of Russian-Irish bilateral trade decreased by 32.5% in comparison with 2014 and came to $1.1 billion. Russian exports fell by 19% and came to $271.6 million. Imports from Ireland dropped by 36% to $831.6 million. Therefore, Ireland is on the slightly more positive side from the point of view of our trade exchange. This year, we have very interesting projects of co-operation between Russia and Ireland, mainly in aviation. I am sure that these plans and projects will grow wider and deeper.
Ireland ranks in seventh place among foreign investors to Russia, behind Germany, the UK, China, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and Cyprus. As we see it, our task is to preserve gained potential of the trade and economic relations and, if possible, to increase it by introducing new projects in spheres of mutual beneficial interest. I must stress that economics and trade are not the only focus of our attention. We have very close relations and co-operation in fields of humanitarian activity, education, arts, culture and so on and so forth. The committee will know that annually in Russia we have traditional Irish events, such as St. Patrick's Day. We also celebrate a pancake day in Russia, as is done in Ireland. It is one of our biggest cultural events. Groups and artists from Russia come to Ireland from time to time to show their art. As far as I know, at the end of this month, there will be a ballet group from St. Petersburg and an opera group from Russia performing in Ireland. That is ongoing.
I prefer not to lecture. I prefer to answer questions.
There were two points on the proposal for our meeting - Syria and Ukraine. The main point of our position on Syria is that the only possible way to solve the Syrian crisis is through political means. As far as we understand, the results of the last contact between our President and President-elect Trump was that this point is mutual for both sides. We will see how we will manage it but the only forces that must be and are excluded from the peace process are terrorists, mainly ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra. Those two forces are officially proclaimed as terrorist organisations. They are the main targets of our attacks in Syria and, as far as we know, they are the main targets of the attacks by the coalition led by the United States in Iraq.
As for Aleppo, unfortunately, too many fabrications and lies are circulating about this part of Syria including the bombing of civilians, the use of unconventional weapons and so on. The Chairman is right. Civilians are being killed there but the question is by whom. As far as we know, there are dozens of shelling incidents every day from the eastern part of Aleppo against the western part of Aleppo. Members will know that this eastern part of Aleppo is under the control of terrorists mixed with opposition forces. The western part is under the control of the Government of Syria.
Accusations and allegations have been made, particularly in recent days, that Russia is using its air force to bomb and so on. I stress and remind the members that as of today, it has been exactly one month since we used our air force in Aleppo. We stopped on 17 October, one month ago from today. Syria's air force is doing the same, therefore, allegations or accusations about Russia bombing schools, hospitals and so on in Aleppo are a complete lie. There was a briefing in the State Department yesterday at which the official representative, if I am not mistaken, spoke about six hospitals and one school that was bombed and so on. He was asked to show the address of the school and the hospitals. There was no answer. Every time we ask for the facts in terms of where, who and how, we do not get an answer.
With an array of American and Russian military satellites over this zone, which can control every square metre of the situation, it is very questionable as to why they do not show maps or video materials. Where is the evidence? If real evidence is shown, it is okay. If not, it is a lie. I am sure there will be more questions about Syria.
As for Ukraine, I will be very short. Our position is the Minsk agreements must be fulfilled. It is that the only way out of this situation in the eastern parts of Ukraine.
