President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that the holding of elections in separatist-held territories of Donbas in the presence of the separatist forces in the region is impossible.
“Regarding the statement of German ambassador and respective incident near the embassy, my position is as follows: holding elections in the occupied territory in the presence of occupying foreign troops is out of the question,” Poroshenko said during a joint briefing with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Kyiv on Feb. 9, answering journalists’ questions in connection with the incident at the German Embassy in Kyiv after the statements of the German ambassador about elections in Donbas.
According to Poroshenko, it is impossible to compare the situation in the east of Ukraine with the situation in East Germany [during the late 1980s], as foreign troops were present there with the consent of East German officials.
“We can draw parallels with the Russian base in Sevastopol. We have held elections many times, when Russian forces were present at the base in Sevastopol. But it is totally unacceptable when the occupation forces try to “push” holding elections at gunpoint,” the president of Ukraine said.
