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Senior Russian MP says sees no reason for Russia not to recognize results of Ukraine polls

Konstantin Kosachev noted that despite certain violations during the voting, there is no evidence to mass falsifications

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. A senior Russian lawmaker said on Sunday he sees no reason for Russia not to recognize the results of presidential polls in Ukraine.

"I see no reasons for Russia to refuse to recognize these elections," Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international committee at Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house, said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel, adding that it is his peronal point of view.

According to Kosachev, there was such a possibility in hypothetical terms, for instance, when candidate from the Servant of the People party, showman Vladimir Zelensky, was nearly withdrawn from the race several hours before the voting. "Hypothetically, there could be only one candidate today, with a guaranteed victory, in the best Soviet-era style. It could be an obvious reason for objecting against the results of such elections and not recognizing them," he said.

He noted that despite certain violations during the voting, there is no evidence to mass falsifications. "There always be questions to these elections because millions of people, those living in southeastern regions, staying abroad, in Russia, were excluded from the electoral process. It is a serious factor impairing the reputation and legitimacy of these elections," Kosachev said.

"But I don’t think it would be in the interests of our bilateral relations to follow the path of non-recognition of these elections and thus closing the doors to contacts with Ukraine’s new authorities," he added.

According to Ukraine’s Central Election Commission, Zelensky is winning 72.12% of votes while incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko is having 25.56% after counting three percent of electronic ballots.