“Now I’ll say something that may sound unexpected. We are ready to think about ensuring security during the elections in Ukraine. At least refrain from attacks deep into the territory on voting day,” he said.
In addition, the head of the Kremlin demanded that Ukrainian citizens living in the Russian Federation also be able to take part in the vote. There are between five and ten million such people, he claims.
“And if there are elections, then we have the right to demand from those who will organize them that Ukrainians now living in the Russian Federation be given the right to vote on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Putin said, adding that the government in Ukraine “must ultimately become legitimate, and without holding elections this is impossible.”
