Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna expects that the Istanbul Convention will be ratified in Ukraine in 2022.

"The extensive experience of non-ratification of the Convention gives us an understanding of which instruments are not effective. On the other hand, we have done several important things that bring us closer to ratification, and we will continue this work in 2022. In particular, we have formed warnings to the Convention with which document for ratification. These warnings are the essence of all discussions with different parties, and with the conservative wing of society, with the religious community and with the expert community. They assume that the provisions of the Convention in no way affect the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, that the Convention does not apply to any issues of gender ideology or identity, and accordingly, these warnings remove the discrepancy between the provisions of the Convention itself," Stefanishyna told Interfax-Ukraine.

The deputy prime minister also said she received a letter from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, which officially explained on behalf of the Council of Europe the content of the Convention itself.

"This letter confirms that the Convention has nothing to do with gender identity issues, that it concerns exclusively the possibility of protecting persons suffering from domestic violence, it provides additional tools for international cooperation and protection of our citizens abroad. In addition, it allows Ukraine become an object of pan-European monitoring," Stefanishyna said.

The deputy prime minister said that both the government and the president supported the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and this bill will be submitted to parliament.

"At the same time, I as the Deputy Prime Minister coordinating this process in the government, believe that the right time should be chosen for ratification. At the beginning of 2022, we will focus on the communication campaign, on working with the parliamentary corps, and we will spend the first half of the year under the auspices of building consensus on the ratification and subsequent submission of the law to parliament," she said.

To a clarifying question, Stefanishyna said that the Istanbul Convention will be ratified in 2022.