Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said that if the opposition factions continue to block the parliament's work, the Verkhovna Rada will have to call an unscheduled sitting.

"Our position is a matter of principle – if the blocking of the parliament continues, an unscheduled sitting has to be called to make decisions. We are doing this for the sake of people and in this situation one should not stop and seek excuses about whether it is proper or not," the head of state said while opening a meeting of the Economic Reform Committee in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Yanukovych said that the parliament has to pass social and economic laws that are important to the country.

As reported, on June 6, MPs received an annual presidential address to the Verkhovna Rada on the domestic and foreign situation in Ukraine in 2013. The opposition demanded that Yanukovych present the address in parliament.

Opposition deputies then blocked the work of parliament. The Verkhovna Rada did not work on June 6 and 7.

The press service of the Verkhovna Rada reported on June 10 that Yanukovych, at a meeting with Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Rybak, had agreed to hold a meeting with the leaders of parliamentary factions.

First Deputy Head of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction, Mykhailo Chechetov, stated that the Verkhovna Rada would not call an unscheduled sitting this week.