The U.S. State Department believes that the actions of illegal armed groups in southeastern Ukraine will not have any significant impact on the conduct of the May 25 presidential elections.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said at a briefing in
Washington on May 22 that pro-Russian separatists are working to
disrupt voting in a small number of areas.
“At the same time, the vast majority of the country remains calm. The
Ukrainian government’s preparations for Sunday’s elections are
otherwise on track,” she said.
“We condemn the attacks today (May 22) in eastern Ukraine by
pro-Russian separatists that killed a number of Ukrainian troops and
wounded dozens more,” the state department spokesperson said.
“Calls by the separatists for Russian military intervention to
protect civilians are ridiculous, considering it is the separatists who
are perpetuating violence,” Psaki said adding that there is a strong
connection between Russia and the pro-Russian separatists.
She also said that based on the information they receive daily,
separatists seem to be the instigators of disturbances every time.
