Poroshenko names key conditions for elections in occupied Donbas

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that the withdrawal of the Russian-occupied troops, the restoration of Ukrainian control over the state border and the deployment of the OSCE armed police mission are the key conditions for the elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

"The Minsk agreements clearly provide for the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Ukrainian territory, the restoration of Ukrainian control over the state border and the deployment of the OSCE armed police mission, which will monitor the implementation on the contact line, will take custody of warehouses with the withdrawn weapons until they are transported to Russia, and will put its patrols at all checkpoints in order to exclude the possibility of the delivery of new units of the Russian troops, ammunition, weapons, or the return of mercenaries," Poroshenko said during a speech in the mobile border detachment of the State Border Service on the occasion of the Border Guards Day in Kyiv on Saturday.

"Only according to the Ukrainian legislation, with the presence of international observers, with the participation of Ukrainian parties, candidates, under stringent security measures, under which we will protect everyone who is involved in the campaign, and who goes to vote. With a tolerance of Ukrainian means of agitation and mass media, we will hold elections that meet the OSCE international standards. I emphasize that there will be no other scenario," Poroshenko said.

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