The ministry informed Rupel about its assessment and position on the situation in Uzbekistan, official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko said on Saturday. "Russia's concerns were not taken into due account in the final version of this statement," the spokesman noted regretfully.
According to him, "the statement was issued without relevant consultations in Vienna will delegations of the OSCE member-states and without discussion at the OSCE Permanent Council."
Therefore, the Russian Foreign Ministry regards this document "as the OSCE chairman-in-office's personal opinion which does not reflect the OSCE position on the whole."
Dimitrij Rupel said earlier that he was "deeply concerned over the reported refusal of the Uzbekistan authorities of a United Nations-led independent investigation into the Andijan events."
The OSCE chairman-in-office said that he expected "that normal communication between the international community (OSCE Center in Tashkent and the Chairman-in Office) on one side, and the Uzbekistan authorities on the other side, be re-established immediately."
Rupel called "on Uzbekistan as a participating State of the OSCE and a member of other international organizations to allow an independent investigation into the events that started in Andizhan on 13 May 2005."
According to him, "such an inquiry is necessary to bring clarity into the events and to properly address them in the interest of stability in the region while the OSCE stands ready to be actively involved in this sense."
