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Developments in eastern Ukraine

OSCE PA resolution unbalanced - Russian delegate

BAKU, June 30, /ITAR-TASS/. The resolution adopted by the 23rd session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which calls for creating an international contact group on Ukraine, is unbalanced and the Russian delegation voted against it, its member, State Duma (lower house of Russian parliament) Deputy Vasily Likhachev said on Monday, June 30.

“The resolution partly responds to current trends and problems including those in Europe. On the other hand, this document is not balanced because it contains provisions that are notably Russophobic and anti-Russian and directed against Russia,” he said.

Likhachev specifically referred to Clause 23 which says that Russia annexed Crimea and Sevastopol, and Clause 24 which speaks about the Russian military buildup in the Arctic.

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“The resolution misrepresents the position of the Russian Federation with regard to processes in the Caucasus. Some of its provisions are directed against the countries that are our allies within the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States], the Customs Union, and the Eurasian Economic Union. There are also other political and legal points,” the MP said.

All this “outweighed the positive” side of the document, including the provision that calls for creating an international contact group on Ukraine. “But this does not mean that the Russian Federation will not participate in the implementation of this document to the extent to which it serves our objective international interests,” Likhachev said.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President held a preliminary meeting with the Russian and Ukrainian delegations on Monday to discuss “structural aspects of the group and the principles of its functioning. In other words, truly important steps were taken today,” Likhachev said.

He said the group would work in Vienna where the OSCE is headquartered. “It is very important that a great deal of work will be done in Baku where the group will convene, make objective analysis, coordinate positions and find consensus in terms of parliamentary diplomacy,” the MP said.

Speaking about the upcoming debates on Ukraine to be held in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on July 1, Likhachev expressed hope that “an objective discussion on Ukraine” will be held. “What we heard yesterday and today was presented in such a way that all problems allegedly originate outside the national borders of Ukraine. No problems can be solved with such approach which is far from the principles of cooperation and mutual understanding,” he said.

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Foreign policy Eastern Ukraine

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