KYIV. Dec 4 (Interfax) - The presidential election in Ukraine will be held as planned, on March 31, 2019, unless Russia obstructs this, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
"I guarantee as president that it [the election scheduled for March 31, 2019] will be held on precisely that day. The only thing that may obstruct this is open, armed aggression on the ground by the aggressor country - then we will be defending the state," Poroshenko said at a meeting with the faculty and students of universities and colleges of Subcarpathia in Ivano-Frankivsk on Tuesday.
Poroshenko mentioned a bill he had sent to the Verkhovna Rada on Monday, which provides for holding local elections even while martial law remains in effect.
"We are protecting Ukrainian soil, we are protecting the constitutional rights and freedoms of our citizens, including the right to vote," Poroshenko said.