Russian media reports about Ukraine's alleged "debt" to the CIS and the absence of an "official notification" of the country's withdrawal from this organization are blatant manipulation, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar has said in a comment to Ukrinform.
"The Kremlin does not abandon its attempts to regain control of Ukraine in any way, including through the CIS. Ukraine has never been a member of this Commonwealth since it did not sign the CIS Charter. We were a founding member and a participant of the Commonwealth, and at one time it had meaning, but for the sixth consecutive year Ukraine has not signed any document adopted by the CIS authorities," Bodnar said.
He said that since 2014, Ukraine has ceased to pay contributions to the CIS budget and has not since then signed annual decisions on the common budget of the Commonwealth bodies, that is, it has not assumed any obligations to pay these contributions.
"Therefore, no 'debt' can exist in principle," he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reported on August 7 that Ukraine's debt to the CIS had exceeded 300 million rubles (about $4.6 million) and that Ukraine had not submitted an official notification of its withdrawal from the CIS.