Ukraine Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that his ministry would not accept applications for registration from Russian election observers.
According to him, a few days ago he sent a letter to the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir with an invitation to send an observation mission to the presidential elections in Ukraine.
“Among other regular things, I noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will not accept applications for registration of Russian observers,” the minister said.
“I consider it necessary when it comes to observers from the aggressor and occupant country. By the way, there are quite a few such precedents in OSCE practice,” he noted.
According to Klimkin, whoever sees the possibility of “democratic expression of will in Russia under the umbrella of the FSB” without risk to voters, should defend his point of view in the legal field.
Earlier, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine closed polling stations in Russia. The election campaign started in Ukraine on December 31, while the election is scheduled for March 31.
