CIS hopes Ukraine stays in bloc

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Executive Committee Chairman Sergei Lebedev hoped on Wednesday that Ukraine will continue taking part in the integration processes as a member.

Lebedev made the remarks in response to a bill passed earlier by Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on the country's withdrawal from the CIS, a regional union of former Soviet states.

The CIS has not received any formal statements from the Ukrainian government about a CIS exit, Lebedev said. "On the contrary, we heard a statement by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin that there is no need for Ukraine to exit the CIS."

Lebedev stressed the organization hopes that Ukraine will continue its participation in the integration processes.

CIS currently includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Endite