Russia hopes the February 7 Ukrainian presidential runoff will go ahead without incidents of a destabilizing nature, a Foreign Ministry source said on Friday
"We hope that the elections will be held without any events destabilizing the situation in the country," the source, who refused to be identified, told RIA Novosti.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is facing a presidential runoff against frontrunner Viktor Yanukovych, has threatened to call mass rallies over controversial amendments to the election law.
Tymoshenko, who co-led mass protests against rigged elections five years ago, said the changes, which introduced new rules for local election commissions, could allow poll fraud. She pledged on Thursday to call her supporters to join mass protests that would diminish even those of 2004 if she thought the polls were rigged.
Yanukovych, a foe of the "orange" camp, insisted the amendments are needed to prevent Tymoshenko from avoiding defeat at certain polling stations by telling her representatives not to turn up, therefore invalidating the vote. He said there would be no mass protests at Kiev's central square - the site of the popular protests from late November 2004 to January 2005.
However, Ukrainian acting Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko refused to rule out in an interview with the Zerkalo Nedeli paper the possibility of clashes between Tymoshenko and Yanukovych supporters if turnout was high in both candidate's strongholds.
"If turnout reaches 95-98% in Donetsk and Lvov, then neither of their supporters will recognize the result. In this case, anything could happen," he said, adding however that he was counting on the "common sense" of both candidates to avoid cashes.
Earlier this week, a court in Kiev banned rallies at the square throughout February.
The Russian Foreign Ministry source also said that Moscow hoped that its relations with Ukraine would improve after the polls
"The main thing for the Russian side is a stable situation in Ukraine," he said, adding that Russia would respect any choice made by the Ukrainians.
Both Tymoshenko and Yanukovych have pledged to improve relations with Moscow, which have soured in recent years, as outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko sought to distance Ukraine from Russia, launching bids to join NATO and the European Union. Moscow and Kiev have also been embroiled in bitter disputes over natural gas supplies and Russia's war with Georgia in August 2008.
Observers say people have grown largely disillusioned with the "orange" movement. Yushchenko received just 5% in the first round of the current vote compared to about 52% in the third runoff held in late December 2004.
MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti)
