MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Kiev’s breaking off ties with the CIS will not bring anything good for the Commonwealth of Independent States or for Ukraine itself, CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev said in an interview with TASS.
Replying to a question as to whether it hurts the CIS to be without Ukraine, the official stressed that there is nothing good in Kiev breaking away from the CIS. "Frankly, as a normal person and one who lived in Ukraine for many years and who knows a lot about Ukraine’s close economic, cultural, and humanitarian ties that existed until recently with other countries in the Commonwealth, above all, with Russia and Belarus, I would like to say that there is nothing good [in this] for the Commonwealth," he noted.
"And the majority of countries have expressed regret over Ukraine pulling out, and discontinuing interaction with the CIS countries. Yet, I cannot but also say that even greater damage from this shutting down of these ties, it seems to me, has been inflicted on Ukraine itself," he emphasized.
The CIS secretary general explained that the Commonwealth is a self-sufficient structure, which has enormous resources and a technological base in its member countries. "Here are both Russia and Belarus, with their strong industrial, scientific and technical potential, [not to mention] Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, [and] other member countries of the Commonwealth, [with] natural resources within their borders. We are self-reliant but, of course, it is much more difficult for Ukraine alone without the CIS," Lebedev noted.
He also reiterated that CIS leaders have repeatedly expressed hope that Ukraine would sooner or later seek to restore good-neighborly relations with Russia, Belarus and the other CIS countries alike.