Ukraine’s interim government promised a clean presidential election on Sunday that would anchor the former Soviet state in the Western camp and show the world it would not be intimidated by Russia after weeks of violence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he would respect the choice of the Ukrainian people and would work with the new authorities. Moscow wanted stability, he said.
In the eastern region where at least 20 people have been killed in the past few days, pro-Moscow separatists said on Saturday they did not recognize a vote organized by authorities in Kiev they say took power in a Western-backed coup and officials said many electoral districts would be out of action.
Electoral officials in the east were setting up polling stations but fearful of violence which may keep people at home.
That could dent what the government hopes will be a massive nationwide turnout to give a mandate for closer ties with the EU and force Moscow to deal with a Kiev leadership that took power three months ago when the elected president fled to Russia.
Having annexed Crimea in March on the grounds of protecting ethnic Russians from Ukrainian “fascists”, Putin said Russia wanted a new constitution – something Kiev sees as a means to break the country up by handing more autonomy than it is willing to concede to Russian-speaking regions in the east.
“By all means, we will respect the choice of the Ukrainian people and will be working with authorities formed on the basis of this election,” Putin told foreign journalists during an international economic forum in St. Petersburg.
