MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow hopes that the controversial presidential election in Afghanistan will be resolved peacefully, and urges the candidates to wait for a thorough inspection of the voting results, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.
"In the current circumstances, we urge both candidates to wait for a thorough inspection of the voting results to be announced on July 22. We hope that the situation with the presidential election will be resolved peacefully,” the ministry said. “The results of the voting must be recognized by the majority of the population and the major political forces in Afghanistan."
On July 7, the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan announced the preliminary results of the second round of the presidential election. According to the results, the former finance minister Ashraf Ghani has received more than 56 percent of votes, and is leading the race.
However, his rival candidate Abdullah Abdullah refuses to admit defeat and blames the government and electoral commission for massive fraud during the vote count. The candidates are currently in negotiations, with the UN acting as an intermediary.
