The US issued a statement announcing that the conference “cannot be convened because of present conditions in the Middle East and the fact that states in the region have not reached agreement on acceptable conditions for a conference.” The following day, Russia issued a statement saying that “a decision to postpone the Conference can be justified only if there is a clearly expressed consent of the countries of the Middle East and the dates for the Conference are fixed”. The UK ’s Foreign Minister commented on the decision to postpone the conference by reaffirming his country’s support for holding the conference as soon as possible. The UN Secretary-Genera l and the Facilitator , and the NAM also issued separate statements regarding the postponement of the 2012 Conference. No alternative date was set.