Summary Ukraine's FM Andriy Deshchytsia says his country is committed to hold May 25 presidential election.
VIENNA (AFP) - Ukraine s Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia appealed to the international community Tuesday to help ensure a presidential election can go ahead on May 25, despite "provocations" backed by Moscow.
"The Ukrainian government is committed to hold the presidential election on the planned day on May 25. So we have asked all partners to send international observers to Ukraine to monitor the elections," Deshchytsia said after a meeting in Vienna of the Council of Europe, where the crisis in Ukraine topped the agenda.
"(We) also asked the partners to make everything possible to eliminate the external threats and provocations supported by Russia in Ukraine to allow these elections to take place in a free and democratic way," he added, speaking in English.
Violence has escalated in Ukraine in recent days with pro-Russian and pro-Kiev groups clashing in the east and south of the country.
Deshchytsia also said Kiev would be open to a second peace conference in Geneva after the collapse of a deal agreed at a meeting in the Swiss city in April, but only under certain conditions.
"If Russia is ready to commit itself to support this election and to eliminate the threat and to eliminate its support for extremist groups in Ukraine, we are prepared to have such a round of meetings," he said.
Britain s Foreign Minister William Hague already accused Russia earlier of trying to disrupt the May 25 election.
"Russia seems to be intent on a course of preventing and disrupting those elections. That is wrong," he said as he arrived at the meeting of the Council of Europe, a rights body.
"Ukrainian elections must be allowed to go ahead."
Kiev also won backing from many of the some 30 countries present at the Vienna conference, Sebastian Kurz, Austria s foreign minister and current chair of the Council of Europe, said after the session.
Hague tweeted: "Widespread support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russia s actions."
Deshchytsia and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov both attended Tuesday s meeting in the Austrian capital. No separate meeting between the two men however appeared to have taken place.
