Moscow, May 07 (Navigator, Victoria Litovchenko) – President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin asked supporters of federalization to postpone the referendum from May 11 to a later date in order to create conditions for it.
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He stated this at a press conference following a meeting with the current OSCE Chairman Didier Burkhalter.
“We believe that direct dialogue between the Kyiv authorities and representatives of southeastern Ukraine is a key element of the settlement,” Vladimir Putin said.
“Meanwhile, a prerequisite for starting this dialogue is the unconditional cessation of all violence, both with the use of armed forces, which is absolutely unacceptable in the modern world, and with the use of armed illegal groups,” the Russian President added.
“We call on representatives of the south-east of Ukraine, supporters of the federalization of the country to postpone the referendum scheduled for May 11. In order to create the necessary conditions for this dialogue,” Vladimir Putin said, as quoted by the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
Putin confirmed that Russia remains ready to make its contribution to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. “Russia is ready to make its contribution to the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis and to influence the Geneva process in the most active and positive way,” he said.
He also added that Russia is interested in ensuring that the crisis in Ukraine is resolved as quickly as possible, taking into account the interests of all citizens of this country, no matter where they live.
Vladimir Putin also said that he supports the proposal to hold an international round table on the situation in Ukraine.
According to Putin, it is necessary to do “everything so that people in the southeast of Ukraine understand, feel and believe that even after the presidential elections in Ukraine on May 25, their legal rights will be reliably guaranteed.”
The possibility of postponing the date of the referendum in the Donetsk region is no longer ruled out in the “Donetsk People’s Republic”.
“We are preparing the referendum on schedule (by May 11). But if the leadership of the Donetsk People’s Republic decides to postpone the date of the referendum, then we will be forced to agree with this,” said Roman Lyagin, Chairman of the DPR Central Election Commission. At the same time, he believes that “there will definitely not be presidential elections in Donetsk.”