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Opinion: сonstitutional reform crucial to legitimacy of presidential elections in Ukraine

GENEVA, March 26, /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine needs to carry out constitutional reform or the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential elections slated for May 25 will be in doubt, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday, March 26.

“The legitimacy of these elections will be in doubt without constitutional reform because, like it or not, there is a legitimately elected president of Ukraine, and the original date for the presidential elections was not May of this year at all,” he said.

Karasin believes that constitutional reform in Ukraine “has to be carried out urgently”. “Unless Kiev’s policy becomes clear to regions in the east, west and south, it will be hard to say that this stability will last. It has turned out that regions differ dramatically in terms of how they assess the situation, their own rights and interests. And this is not all the same to us as a neighbour of Ukraine,” the diplomat said.

He stressed that the constitutional reform should contain “a decision on the new government structures, the constitution and the powers of different branches of government”.

When asked whether the format of consultations on security and stability in the Transcaucasia could be suitable for Ukraine, Karasin said that “the crisis in Ukraine is so deep that discussions will not help”. “There must be very prompt and decisive actions on the part of the international community and the Ukrainian leadership… without political games, zero-result games,” and they should also think about “how to create a structure for assistance to Ukraine, coordinate positions and bring them to the leadership in Kiev”.

“Ukraine is a large country in the centre of Europe, which is basically living through a statehood crisis with all ensuing consequences,” Karasin said, adding that “the state is in very bad condition”.

“It is too early to speak of any signs of solution to the crisis that would restore Ukrainian statehood,” he said.