Interfax: Russia will evaluate Ukrainian elections based on OSCE mission monitoring – Lavrov

Sergei Lavrov file photo

ST. PETERSBURG. May 23 (Interfax) – Russia will evaluate the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine based on the monitoring conducted by the OSCE mission and using modern technologies, but will not send its monitors due to the absence of safety guarantees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“It’s very easy in our age of electronic mass media,” Lavrov told reporters on Friday, responding to a question as to how Russia can determine whether the Ukrainian elections are fair or not.

“Like I said, we will decide on our attitude toward this event based on the evaluation of the voting outcome and based on whether the person elected will be accepted by the people of Ukraine, Ukraine’s voters, or not,” he said.

Lavrov also said Russia will also use “the OSCE mission’s monitoring” in its evaluations.

“Unlike our Western partners, who already said these elections will be legitimate, we prefer to use facts. We will look at the results first,” Lavrov said.

“We expect a lot in terms of objective election monitoring from the OSCE monitoring mission. Unfortunately, we have reasons to think that attempts will be made to smooth out the results and hide facts that are not very pleasant for the current Ukrainian authorities and their sponsors,” he said.

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

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