You're reading: US ambassador expects high level of conduct of local elections in Ukraine

KHARKIV - United States Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has expressed the belief that the local elections in Ukraine this year will be held at the same high level as the presidential and parliamentary elections last year.

In 2014, Ukraine held the most democratic elections in its history, first those of the president and then those to the parliament, having shattered Russia’s hopes for the split in Ukraine and having maintained the image of a unified Ukraine which is moving closer to European standards of democracy and the rule of law, Pyatt said at a briefing in Kharkiv on Friday.

Based on his morning consultations with the Governor of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Ihor Rainin and his regular conversations with Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, the United States ambassador expressed his conviction that the same high standards will apply during the October 25 local elections in Ukraine.

He stressed that the United States supports the position that local elections should take place in strict compliance with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

Washington has taken a very clear position concerning ‘the fake elections’ which pro-Russian forces are going to hold in Donetsk and Luhansk on October 17 and November 1, Pyatt said.