Ukraine comments on Volker’s statement on admission of Russian observers to presidential election

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Kateryna Zelenko said this in comments to Ukrinform in response to a request to comment on the statement by U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker on the possibility of admission of Russian observers to the Ukrainian presidential election.

"Ukraine will ensure democracy and compliance with all electoral standards. The mutual absence of citizens of the conflicting countries in the OSCE has never prevented ODIHR from successfully conducting the election observation process," Zelenko said.

She recalled that official observers from Ukraine did not go to the presidential election of Russia in 2018.

“We are confident that the absence of Russian observers will not prevent ODIHR from conducting a qualitative observation over elections,” the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed.

As reported, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker called on Ukrainian authorities to allow Russian observers to monitor the presidential election in March 2019.