Speaker fails to open morning meeting of parliament on Thursday

Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Rybak has failed to open a morning plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday, because a sufficient number of MPs (226) was not present in the session hall.

"A total of 214 people's deputies came to work, therefore it makes no sense to hold a meeting. I think we will hold a meeting tomorrow at 1000," he said.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that MPs from opposition factions on Thursday continued to blockade the rostrum, presidium and government seats in the parliament's session hall.