You're reading: Update: Yushchenko does not plan to quit politics

Outgoing Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko does not plan to quit politics after losing the Jan. 17 presidential election, stating that he wants to continue to defend democracy in Ukraine.

"I have carried out my democratic obligations in the office of Ukrainian president. But the national and state obligations do not give me the moral right to quit politics," Yushchenko said in a Jan. 20 statement circulated in Kyiv.

Yushchenko said he believes democracy should be the main goal for Ukraine, as this is the only thing "that gives the country a ray of hope and prospects."

"This principle must be defended at any cost," he said.

"As president of Ukraine, I am remaining the guarantor of the constitution and will do all I can so that the second round of the election passes freely, legitimately, and democratically," he said.