WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama on Monday congratulated the Ukrainian people on recent parliamentary elections as he warned Russia about alleged voting restrictions.
“Despite a challenging security environment in certain regions, millions of Ukrainians turned out across the country to cast their ballots in an orderly and peaceful manner,” Obama said in a statement. "I commend the government of Ukraine for the conduct of the campaign and election day vote, which international monitoring organizations assess to have been largely in line with international standards."
Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Ukrainian government’s efforts to ensure access to voting were “particularly laudable.”
“Their hard work to provide for alternate voting arrangements, including for internally displaced persons, was a particularly laudable effort to overcome actions by Russian authorities occupying Crimea and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine to prevent voters from exercising their democratic rights,” he said in a statement Monday.
According to initial reports, pro-government parties received more than 50 percent of the vote. President Petro Poroshenko's party, Bloc Petro Poroshenko, is seen as the favorite in the elections. He is expected to form a coalition with Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenuk’s People’s Front party.
Ukrainians began to cast their votes at 8 a.m. Sunday in the volatile country and polls remained open for 12 hours.
Crimea and most parts of the eastern region of Donbas, which are still not under the full control of Ukrainian authorities, did not participate in the elections.
Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March following the ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych a month earlier. Russia accuses the EU and U.S. of being behind Yanukovych’s departure, a claim the U.S. and EU deny.
Obama said that while millions were allowed to vote, Russian authorities in Crimea and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine “prevented many Ukrainian citizens from exercising their democratic rights.”
Violence between government forces and separatists has continued in the east of the country despite a cease-fire that was signed Sept. 5 between the central government and rebels.
During a phone call with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Gen. Col. Stepan Poltorak, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel discussed the types of security assistance the U.S. will provide to Ukraine amid ongoing conflict in the country.
“Minister Poltorak also discussed Ukraine's efforts to reform its military and thanked Secretary Hagel for U.S. support in this area,” according to a readout provided by Pentagon Assistant Press Secretary Carl Woog.
Hagel and Poltorak further discussed the need for Russia and separatists rebels to implement the Sept. 5 ceasefire.
With special elections slated for Dec. 7 in the separatist-controlled cities of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Obama called on Russia’s allies there to allow citizens to cast their vote without restriction.
“The United States will not recognize any election held in separatist-held areas that does not comport with Ukrainian law and is not held with the express consent and under the authority of the Ukrainian government,” he said.
“The United States also will continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as it works toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the east and a return of Crimea, and will stand with its people as they seek to build a more secure, prosperous, and democratic future."
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