You're reading: White House official website: Obama hopes Ukraine will hold fair elections

President of the United States Barack Obama has stated that Ukraine should demonstrate the vitality of democracy at the upcoming elections to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, in October 2012, according to the press service of the White House.

During a meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Seoul on March 27, Obama "underscored the importance of demonstrating the vitality of Ukrainian democracy by ensuring free, fair, and transparent parliamentary elections in October."

"The U.S. president also raised U.S. concerns about selective prosecution of the political opposition," reads the statement.

As reported, Yanukovych and Obama met during the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit on March 27. The meeting took place behind closed doors.

After the meeting, Yanukovych said that they discussed issues of nuclear security, in particular Ukraine’s initiative to create a research and development center at Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) during their meeting.

The president added that during his meeting with Obama, they discussed Ukraine’s activities in giving up its stocks of highly enriched uranium, as well as the prospects for relations between the two states in the sphere of nuclear security.