U.S. disturbed by ‘voting’ on amendments to Russian constitution in occupied Donbas, Crimea

U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE James S. Gilmore said this at an online meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We are deeply disturbed by reports that Russian authorities are attempting to conduct “voting” on Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea, further underlining Russia’s flagrant disregard for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of its neighbor, Ukraine," the ambassador noted.

The United States has closely followed the voting on a package of constitutional amendments that took place in the Russian Federation over the past week. "We are troubled by reports of Russian government efforts to manipulate the result of the vote, including through voter coercion, pressure on opponents of the proposed amendments, and restrictions on the ability of independent observers to monitor the vote," Gilmore said.

As a reminder, 77.9% of referendum participants voted for the amendments to the Constitution of Russia which zero out the presidential term of Vladimir Putin.

At the same time, Russia held voting on the territory of the occupied Donbas and in Crimea. 

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