A Fianna Fáil Senator has said that Sabina Higgins' views on Ukraine are "not appropriate" and may have complicated Ireland's stance on the war.

Malcolm Byrne is concerned that her letter to the Irish Times was then published on the website of the President and viewed in some way as an official statement.

The letter, in which Mrs Higgins urged Russia and Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire, has since been removed from the Áras an Uachtaráin website.

Senator Byrne told Newstalk that he is concerned about the impact of her comments on Russia.

'Inappropriate'

"Her comments have been endorsed by the Russian Ambassador and by the Kremlin", he said. "They're being picked up internationally."

"She is perfectly entitled to her view but I think there is a concern about the fact that that view was published on the website of the President of Ireland. That was not appropriate."

Byrne asks that President Michael D. Higgins clarify the view of the government.

"As a country that had been in war with Russia for the last eight years, we definitely know that it is not enough for one side to want peace - it needs to be mutual."

Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik says there is 'no way' of peaceful negotiations with Russia.

She told The Hard Shoulder any such approach has to be mutual.

"I do understand that it is extremely easy to comment on the war when you are not inside the war, and when it is not your country that is being attacked."

"And as a country that had been in war with Russia for the last eight years, we definitely know that it is not enough for one side to want peace - it needs to be mutual."

She believes Mrs Higgins was "underinformed".

Main image shows Sabina Higgins. Image: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie