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Source: some Eastern Partnership summit participants call for clear stance on EU accession

Western media reports said earlier that Belarus and Armenia had refused to sign a final document due to its wording on Crimea

RIGA, May 21. /TASS/. The participants of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga have so far failed to reach compromise on the joint statement and the final text of the document will be ready only on Friday, a diplomatic source told TASS on Thursday.

"Besides the wording concerning Crimea, there are some differences related to the stances on the possibilities for participants on joining the EU," the source said. "This means that there were requests to define the possibility in the document and also the proposals for the accession," he said.

"We presume that the text will be ready tomorrow," the source added.

Western media reports said earlier that Belarus and Armenia had refused to sign a final document due to its wording on Crimea.

A diplomatic source confirmed to TASS that some participants of the summit, in particular of these two countries, "have complaints about the final statement." Until now, the fourth paragraph of the text included the phrase "annexation of Crimea."

Speaking on whether the text will be revised, the source said: "Of course, a declaration will be adopted and a consensus should be made on it, so we are working on the text too."

The fourth summit of the European Union’s East Partnership program opened on Thursday in Riga, Latvia, which holds presidency in the Council of the European Union till late June.

The Eastern Partnership programme embraces Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the former Soviet Union republics. None of them will be offered any promises about possible membership in the European Union at this summit. Moreover, Kiev and Tbilisi, both seeking visa-free travel regime with the European Union, will not hear the good news at the event.