MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday declined to comment on the outcome of the first round of the presidential elections in Turkey.

"Our position has traditionally been that we don’t comment on elections in other countries before the final results are in," she said at a news conference. "We especially don’t talk about our preferences because this is about the choice of the people of a sovereign country. This concerns all countries."

The diplomat said Russian observers, whenever they monitor elections as part of international teams or individually, may comment on the vote, but the foreign ministry doesn’t issue comments until after official results are announced.

"That’s our traditional approach," Zakharova said.