VIENNA, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow’s position on the upcoming Ukrainian presidential election will depend on the conditions and manner of their conduct, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
“The elections and referendum must be free and fair, they must be held in an atmosphere absent of violence and under objective and impartial international monitoring,” Lavrov said.
On Monday, Kiev’s interim authorities said they saw no reason to postpone the May 25 presidential election in Ukraine despite deadly clashes in the country’s southeastern regions.
The Russian Civic Chamber said Monday it was preparing an appeal to the UN and the European Council to postpone the election in the crisis-hit country until the situation stabilizes.
The chamber is convinced that elections would be doomed to vote tampering and will only provoke further escalation of the conflict, as the country remains knee deep in bloody clashes and authorities in Kiev are unable to guarantee public safety.
Early presidential elections were scheduled in Ukraine after legitimate president Victor Yanukovich was ousted late February following the so-called Euromaidan mass rallies in Kiev. Citizens of mainly Russian-speaking southeast of Ukraine refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the country’s interim government and announced referendums on self-determination in several major regions to be held on May 11.
Earlier in March, the republic of Crimea held a referendum in which 96 percent of citizens voted for separation from Ukraine and reunification with Russia.
