The United States Department of State supports the Ukraine's position on the need to hold elections in Donbas only after the establishment of government control over the Ukrainian-Russian border. This was stated by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent on Friday during a Washington-Kiev live broadcast on the Donbas settlement, Ukrinform reports.
"The election procedure in the temporarily occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions cannot be carried out without ensuring proper border security. In order for the elections to take place, it is necessary to have appropriate conditions," the representative of the US State Department said.
He added that the United States supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and stressed that "the entire Donbas is the territory of Ukraine."
As we reported earlier, the elections in the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions cannot take place due to the absence of the control of the border by the Ukrainian side.
“I told to President of France Macron and Chancellor of Germany Merkel and President of Russia Putin that we will not have observers there if there is no border if we cannot control the pace of the election. Any of the western observers would be able to come there. That is why the elections will never be open there. From the point of view of safety, there will no free access for all parties. But it should be – the free will of people should take place. No law enforcement system will be there. We do not know what will take place if there is no controlled border between Ukraine and Russia,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said.
