2. The Chair of WP.29, Mr. A. Erario (Italy) welcomed delegates to the 186th session of WP.29 and opened the meeting. He recalled the exceptional circumstances of this session due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

3. The representatives of France, Japan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America and the European Commission read out statements related to their country’s position on the Ukraine/Russian crisis. The statements are reproduced in Annex VII of this report. Australia supported these statements via chat.

4. The representative of the Russian Federation highlighted in his intervention that political statements are not following with the WP.29 mandate. In accordance of Term of reference the WP.29 should address technical issues. The statement of the Russian Federation are reproduced in Annex VII of the session report.

5. The World Forum welcomed, Mr M. Nicklas, the new Head of Delegation to WP.29 of the European Commission.