KIEV, Ukraine -- Russia will respect the result of Ukraine's presidential election, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday as fighting continued in the country's restive eastern regions two days ahead of the vote.
The conciliatory sentiment raised hopes that Russia will be willing to work with new authorities in Ukraine after months of denouncing as illegitimate the acting government that replaced pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February amid popular protests.
"We understand and see that people in Ukraine want the country to come out of this lengthy crisis," Putin said at an economic conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. "We also want the situation to become calmer. We will respect the choice made by the people of Ukraine."
Putin stopped short of saying he would recognize the vote as legitimate, and he reiterated his assertion that the government in the capital, Kiev, which is organizing the vote, had usurped Yanukovych's power in a coup. The election would not represent a "general national mandate," he said.
Asked whether Russia would accept the outcome, Putin said, "We will watch what will happen."
He also said he hoped that his nation's relations with the United States would improve after Ukraine's crisis is resolved. But, he said, "we can't force anyone to love us."
White House spokesman Jay Carney said in response to Putin's remarks, "We'll have to see whether in fact Russia does recognize and take steps to engage with the Ukrainian government and the victor of the presidential election."
There were reports Friday of further clashes between pro-government and anti-government militias near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, a day after fighting in the region killed at least 13 soldiers and raised tensions ahead of Sunday's vote.
On Thursday, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said the 13 Ukrainian troops were killed when rebels attacked a checkpoint with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades near the town of Volnovakha, south of Donetsk. A regional health official later said that 16 people had died -- 10 soldiers, four rebels and two civilians -- but there was no immediate way to verify his statement.
Witnesses said the attackers arrived in a bank's armored car, which the unsuspecting soldiers waved through the checkpoint, only to be mowed down at point-blank range.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Friday that 20 pro-Russia insurgents were killed and more than 30 wounded a day earlier when 500 rebels attacked a Ukrainian military position near the eastern town of Rubizhne. The account could not immediately be confirmed independently, and there was no explanation of why it took authorities so long to release the details. In a separate clash near the town early Friday, one soldier was killed when Ukrainian troops were ambushed by rebels, the ministry said.
Local media also reported heavy shelling Friday in the rebel stronghold of Slovyansk.
The Thursday clashes prompted Ukrainian officials to call for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council and broke several days of relative calm amid reports of divisions in the separatist ranks. The United States and its European allies have accused Russia of sowing chaos in eastern Ukraine to throw off the election, and they have threatened Moscow with additional sanctions if the vote is disrupted.
Election offices targeted
Ukrainians are going to the polls Sunday in presidential and mayoral elections that could determine the direction of the country and its alignment between Russia and the West.
Turchynov urged all voters to take part in Sunday's crucial ballot to "cement the foundation of our nation." Authorities in Kiev have hoped that a new president would unify the divided nation, whose western regions look toward Europe and the east has strong traditional ties to Russia.
Yet it was uncertain whether any voting could take place in the east, where rebels who declared the Donetsk and Luhansk regions independent have vowed to block what they call an election for the leader of a foreign country. Election workers and activists in the regions say gunmen there have threatened them and seized their voting rolls and stamps.
Separatists have targeted election offices in the Donetsk region, which is home to about 3.5 million voters, or nearly 10 percent of the country's voters, a regional election official said.
On Thursday, armed militants closed another of the Donetsk region's district election commission offices, each of which organizes and oversees voting for several polling stations.
At other locations, some local officials were abducted but usually released a short time later, and at least one was beaten, said Valeriy Zhaldak, a former Ministry of Justice employee who is serving as elections adviser to Donetsk's regional government. In the city of Horlivka, the person who was leading the district election commission apparently crossed to the separatist side and was proclaimed the "people's mayor," Zhaldak said.
"There are always fights somewhere," Zhaldak said.
Zhaldak, who is working out of a hotel because pro-Russia separatists still occupy the main regional administration building, said some election offices have been relocated from hot spots, such as rebel-held Slovyansk. Some local elections officials also have agreed to hide voter records, ballot boxes and other materials in their homes.
Denis Pushilin, a leader of the People's Republic of Donetsk who sees the national government as an occupier, said the elections are illegal in his territory but denied using violence to halt them.
"We think it's inappropriate to hold presidential elections in a neighboring country," he said in an interview. "As for disrupting the elections, I wouldn't use this term. I'd say we are opposing them through civilized methods, with the help of law enforcement and police. We are not advocates of violence."
Alexander Chernenko, who leads a nonprofit organization that trains election commissioners and monitors, said the interim government must move faster to provide security. At least 5 percent of the region's local election offices have been closed because of separatist threats, he said.
Marie Harf, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said Russian officials "need to call on the separatists that they have influence with to not try to disrupt the election."
Ukraine's parliament has authorized national security forces to guard election offices in areas where local police have failed to do their jobs, either because they are outgunned or sympathetic to the separatists. But Chernenko said little has been done in practice.
Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy Sergeyev, estimated that more than 60 polling stations will be operating in Donetsk and about 50 percent of the stations in Luhansk will be ready, though international observers might not be at all stations in those areas because of security concerns.
"We expect a huge participation in all the regions, more than 70 percent," he said.
Twenty-one candidates are campaigning to become Ukraine's next leader. Polls show billionaire candy-maker Petro Poroshenko with a commanding lead but falling short of the absolute majority needed to win in the first round, which would necessitate a runoff June 15.
Poroshenko's nearest challenger is Yulia Tymoshenko, the divisive former prime minister who is trailing by a significant margin.
Turchynov, who is not running, emphasized the importance of the balloting.
"Today, we are building a new European country, the foundation of which was laid by millions of Ukrainians who proved that they are capable of defending their own choice and their country," Turchynov said. "We will never allow anyone to rob us of our freedom and independence, [and] turn our Ukraine into a part of the post-Soviet empire."
Russian recognition of the election winner would be an important step toward resolving the crisis. But Putin also made it clear that Russia will continue to push for Kiev to end its offensive.
Putin blamed the crisis on what he described as "snobbery" by the West for supporting the anti-Yanukovych protests and the interim government. He said the West is reluctant to listen to Russia's economic and security concerns regarding Ukraine.
The West "supported the coup and plunged the country into chaos, and now they try to blame us for that and have us clean up their mess," Putin said.
He also alleged that by pressing the EU to impose stronger sanctions against Russia, the U.S. was trying to weaken a competitor.
"A civil war is raging in Ukraine," Putin said. The sanctions directed against Russia, which he called "unfair and illegal," would not end it, he said.
"Why are we the ones being blamed for this?" he asked.
Elsewhere Friday, a top Russian military commander said Russia would respond to NATO's troop buildup in Poland and the Baltics, where alliance forces are conducting exercises. The statement by Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia's Armed Forces General Staff, added to tensions between Russia and the West that have reached Cold War heights.
"In this situation, we cannot ignore these events. We have to take measures in response," Gerasimov said Friday at an international security conference in Moscow.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael Birnbaum, Fredrick Kunkle, Abigail Hauslohner, Daniela Deane, Aleksey Ryabchyn and Anastasiia Fedesova of The Washington Post; by Laura Mills, Peter Leonard, Nebi Qena, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Nataliya Vasilyeva, Vladimir Isachenkov, Cara Anna and Julie Pace of The Associated Press; and by Andrew E. Kramer of The New York Times.
A Section on 05/24/2014