STRASBOURG. June 26 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he hopes early elections to the Verkhovna Rada will be held in October.
"The most democratic way is early parliamentary elections, which I intend to call, and I hope they will be held in October this year," Poroshenko said at a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session in Strasbourg on Thursday.
Asked whether the Ukrainian Communist Party could be banned, Poroshenko replied that elections are the best way to isolate parties from political affairs without bloodshed. "If the Communist Party doesn't get support [in the elections], I believe this is the best way to remove the party from the political arena," he said.
Poroshenko said earlier that he expected a decision on early parliamentary elections from the Verkhovna Rada itself.