BERLIN, May 20, 18:41 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia has failed to say how many voters should take part in the presidential elections scheduled for May 25 to have these elections recognized as legitimate.

“The elections will be recognized as legitimate depending on how many people take part in them,” he said at a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on Tuesday. “We cannot prepare for the elections in a calm atmosphere because of the situation in the country’s eastern regions. Our influence on these regions is limited.”

The German minister, in turn, noted that more than 1,000 observers would monitor the presidential polls in Ukraine. This fact, in his words, made it possible to hope that the voting would be maximally transparent.

18 candidates will vie for president in the country, 5 quit. 

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine has finished registering observers from international organizations and states for Ukraine’s upcoming early presidential elections, the CEC said Monday.

Overall, 2,784 observers from 19 countries (Canada, the United States, 14 European countries as well as three Asian states - Turkey, Kazakhstan, Japan) and 19 international organizations have been registered.

Ukraine is in turmoil after a coup occurred in the country in February. New people were propelled to power amid riots as security concerns caused President Viktor Yanukovich to leave the country the same month. The new leaders set early presidential elections for May 25.

Massive protests against the new Ukrainian authorities erupted in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking southeastern territories after the secession of the Crimean Peninsula, which declared independence on March 11 and joined Russia on March 18 following a referendum.

Kiev has been conducting a punitive operation against pro-federalization activists in Ukraine's southeast.