SHANGHAI, May 21 (RIA Novosti) – Participants of the fourth inter-governmental forum, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), excluded a section devoted to Ukraine from their final statement, a Russian diplomat said Wednesday.
“The draft of the final document contained a section devoted to Ukraine, but it was excluded from the latest version,” said Bakhtier Khakimov, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Pacific Cooperation Department.
He said the statement contained calls for de-escalation and a number of general suggestions, but gave no details.
“Our position was simple – maybe, two or three months ago such a wording could hypothetically be possible, but after the events in Odessa and [other] developments in eastern and southern Ukraine it became absolutely inappropriate,” Khakimov said.
He said that Ukraine, which has an observer status in the organization, has the right to raise any issue during discussions, “but it does not mean that it will be reflected in the final document.”
The Russian diplomat added that all participating countries, except those who came forward with the initiative, spoke against making a statement on Ukraine.
