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Kiev will hold presidential election in spite of referendum in Southeast Ukraine

NEW YORK, May 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine’s incumbent authorities will hold the presidential election scheduled for May 25 on the entire territory of Ukraine even if the supporters of federalization of the country hold a referendum in its southeastern regions, Andrei Deshchytsia, the acting foreign minister said Thursday in an interview with the CNN.

If the referendum is held, it will trigger a further destabilization in the east of the country, he claimed, adding that the Kiev regime has no plans to cancel the election because of it.

Deshchytsia underlined the Ukrainian government’s conviction that the election will be held on the entire territory of the country and this is one of the reasons why the law enforcement agencies launched an operation to restore order in that part of the country.

He expressed the opinion that the authorities and the forces of law and order should act more resolutely.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a telephone conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, earlier in the day that it was important for the Kiev regime to stop the punitive operation as soon as possible, to lift the blockade of all the population centers in the Southeast, to release all the political prisoners, and to launch a comprehensive constitutional reform.

“Lavrov voiced a deep concern over the negative reaction of the Kiev authorities to the results of the Russian-Swiss negotiations and their refusal to stop using the Armed Forces and the units of nationalistic radicals against the protesters in the Southeast,” the ministry said.

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Ukraine crisis Eastern Ukraine

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