Riga summit gives up term of "Russia’s aggression in Ukraine" — diplomat

BRUSSELS, May 27. /TASS/. The participants of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia, last week refused to use the term "Russia’s aggression in Ukraine" that is widespread in Brussels, Russia’s envoy to EU Vladimir Chizhov has said in an exclusive interview with TASS.

The summit also failed to agree on a joint statement condemning the "annexation of Crimea," the diplomat said.

"The draft declaration, which the EU submitted for consideration with six countries of the Eastern Partnership, used the term "annexation of Crimea." Moreover, it spoke about "Russia’s aggression against Ukraine," Chizhov reminded.

However, there is no "Russia’s aggression" term in the final text. "By the way, in the 13-page document, Russia was mentioned just once and only in the context of the trilateral gas talks," the diplomat said.

As for the second intrigue in Riga, namely the situation around the "Crimean annexation" term, then after the long and apparently intense discussions, the sides managed to find "a rather tricky wording," he said.

The document noted the special position of the European Union: "The EU countries condemn the annexation of Crimea," Chizhov said.

"It does not go beyond the EU documents that have been already published in this regard. It is followed by a phrase that "the participants of the summit confirmed their stances in relation to the vote on the resolution of the UN General Assembly," he said.

Behind this euphemism there is an objective fact that during the vote on this resolution the participants of the Eastern Partnership - Armenia and Belarus - opposed it and they have confirmed this, he said.

The Eastern Partnership is a joint initiative of the EU and its partners - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.