ST. PETERSBURG, May 23 (RIA Novosti) – The legitimacy of the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine raises doubts, Russian Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said Friday.
“Undoubtedly, the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine raises more and more questions because it’s obvious today with the punitive operation underway that the situation is becoming more acute each day,” Naryshkin said during an interview with Rossiya-24 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“We see how journalism is suffering, how limited freedom is in Ukraine and, of course, in these conditions, the legitimacy of the elections bring about great doubt,” the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament said.
On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Russia to accept the verdict of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the results of the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine, and expressed regret over the fact that Russia had refused to send observers to Ukraine as part of the OSCE mission.
On Wednesday, the Central Election Commission of Russia said Moscow had received no invitation from Ukraine to send observers to the election.