MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) adopted a statement at a plenary session on Wednesday calling on the UN, the international parliamentary associations, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the parliaments in some European countries to condemn the actions by the Ukrainian authorities, which blocked Russian citizens from accessing polling stations in Russia’s presidential election on the territory of their country.
"The Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly calls on the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the parliaments of the OSCE member-states, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament to condemn the Ukrainian authorities’ actions violating the electoral rights of Russian citizens and universally recognized norms and principles of international law," the statement reads.
The senators expressed deep indignation over official Kiev’s actions, which failed to ensure Russian citizens’ access to polling stations in the Russian diplomatic missiles and consulates in Ukraine. They noted that this contravenes Ukraine’s international obligations, in particular the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations along with the 1993 Consular Convention between Russia and Ukraine.
They hoped that the disruption of voting in Russia’s presidential election on Ukrainian soil would be reflected in reports by international observation missions.