A week ago Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that ‘Russian elections were fair and legit by all international standards’. This statement was taken with a great deal of irony by Israeli media. During recent press conference the minister was asked if he persisted in his opinion about Russian elections despite the ‘newly discovered circumstances’. Mr Lieberman said that his position remains the same.
“All facts at hand prove that the elections were held in accordance with the law, - Avigdor Lieberman said, - Russian authorities are prepared to conduct necessary inspections to uncover frauds – and this fact speaks for itself. Moreover, elections results generally coincide with the results of pre-election polls, so they are likely to reflect the real state of Russian people’s preferences. In general, my position regarding current events in Russia is defined by three main factors: first of, the only real alternative to the present Russian government is the communist party – and we all know where it leads.
Secondly, I don’t believe we have a right to intervene in Russia’s internal affairs. We should be concerned with Russia’s position in questions urgent for us: Russia’s relations with Iran, its attitude towards Palestinian and Syrian problems. We’ve just established some kind of understanding in all these matters with Russian government during my recent visit to Moscow. The dialog carries on and there’s hope for rapprochement of our positions.
And thirdly, it is the current government of Russia that achieved a great deal of progress in many aspects of the country’s life. Today’s Russia is no Cuba or North Korea, such comparisons are inappropriate”.
Despite this explanation, there are still rumors that Lieberman supported the Russian election results under pressure from Kremlin. Some say that this statement was a condition under which Lieberman will be granted a meeting with Mr Putin.
By Peter Lukimson, Israel. Exclusively to VK
