Putin: I will abide by Ukraine vote
He says he will work with winner of presidential race.
KIEV, Ukraine— Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted Friday that he is ready to work with whoever wins Ukraine’s presidential election Sunday. But his latest pledge to facilitate a return of elected leadership in Kiev came amid reports of new attacks by pro-Russia gunmen who have vowed to disrupt the election in occupied eastern Ukraine.
Putin, who for months denounced the Ukrainian government’s election plans as illegal and the result of a Western-backed coup, told a gathering of international business leaders in St. Petersburg, Russia, that he doubted the vote would meet international standards “but let them hold it like that, at least,” he said in apparent acceptance.
The White House was unconvinced by Putin’s words.
“We’ll have to see whether, infact, Russia does recognize and then take steps to engage with the Ukrainian government and the victor of the presidential election,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Friday that 20 pro-Russian insurgents were killed and more than 30 others wounded a day earlier when 500 rebels attacked a Ukrainian military position near the eastern town of Rubizhne. The account could not be confirmed independently, and there was no explanation of why it took authorities so long to release the details.
Local media also reported heavy shelling Friday in the rebel stronghold of Slovyansk.
Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, head of the Security Service of Ukraine, said earlier Friday that government troops had intercepted two convoys of armed separatists and weapons caches being transported from Russia.
“They are trying to stop the election and planning to attack polling places,” he said.
Hundreds of foreign election observers have flooded into Ukraine in recent days to monitor the vote.
Ukrainian Interior Ministry officials told reporters in Kiev that 55,000 police and security forces would be standing guard to protect voters and observers.
Thousands of citizen volunteers also had pledged to be on hand to thwart any interference by the militants, who have threatened election organizers and vowed to prevent balloting in the eastern and southern regions of the country, where they occupy government buildings, police stations and broadcast facilities.
Putin had been seen as encouraging the militants with his accusations that Kiev’s interim leaders are fascists intent on repressing the Russian minority in those regions.
That was the Kremlin leader’s refrain when he sent Russian troops into Ukraine’s Crimea in late February and proclaimed its reunion with Russia on March 18, two days after a dubious referendum held under military occupation reportedly found 97 percent of the peninsula’s residents in favor of Russian annexation.
The United States and the European Union have imposed targeted sanctions on a few dozen Russian officials and businessmen considered complicit in Crimea’s seizure, which has been condemned by the UnitedNations.
But Friday, Putin offered a different tone when he said in St. Petersburg: “We understand and see that people in Ukraine want the country to come out of this lengthy crisis. We alsowant the situation to become calmer. We will respect the choice made by the people of Ukraine.”
Putin’s toned-downrhetoric about Ukraine’s election may reflect concern that Western threats of more punishing sanctions could deliver a further blow to Russia’s economy.
Kremlin officials also have seemed less resistant to dealing with a new Ukrainian president since candidate Petro Poroshenko, a confectionary magnate with business interests in Russia, has opened up a commanding lead, according to polls.
If no candidate wins more than 50 percent Sunday, a runoff will be held June 15, in all likelihood pitting Poroshenko against ex-Prime MinisterYuliaTymoshenko.
Putin also told the business forum that the unrest in Ukraine has blown up into “a full-scale civilwar.”
Putin said he hoped that his nation’s relations with the United States, at Cold War-era lows, improve after Ukraine’s crisis is resolved.
But, he said, “we can’t force anyone to love us.”