(VOVworld) – Ukraine is planning to withdraw from the rotating presidency of the Commonwealth of Independent States, SNG.

A Ukrainian naval officer passes by armed men as he leaves the naval headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol yesterday. Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

Evgeni Perebeinos, Director of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Information Policy Department, said Wednesday that the decision had been issued because SNG members hadn’t implemented the signed cooperative agreement to handle post-Soviet Union conflicts in the airspace. As a result, Ukraine will reconsider the benefit of continuing to join the organization.

On the same day, the commonwealth’s executive board announced that they hadn’t received Ukraine’s official diplomatic note on its retirement. If Ukraine’s issue is raised at Thursday’s meeting of the Commonwealth’s permanent representatives, this year’s presidency will be handed over to either Belarus or Kazakhstan, the former President and successor to Ukraine respectively.

In another development, in protest at Crimea’s decision to join Russia, Andriy Parubiy, Ukraine's National Security and Defense acting Secretary, said Ukraine has decided to impose the same travel restrictions on Russia.
In return, the Russian RIA-Novosti news agency said Moscow will consider the application of visa status on Ukrainians once it’s officially informed with Kiev’s decision. Andriy said the Ukrainian government would appeal to the UN to “recognise Crimea as a demilitarised zone and take necessary measures for Russian forces to leave Crimea” and it would also prepare for “the re-deployment of Ukrainian forces to mainland Ukraine”. Andriy said the Council will look at the evacuation of citizens who don’t want to stay in the peninsula.