SCHLESWIG, Germany, Dec 21 (AFP) - Russia and Germany said Tuesday that the outcome of the re-run of the disputed Ukrainian election at the weekend must be respected.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed that "the result of the election must definitely be accepted".
Schroeder added at a news conference at the end of two days of talks with Putin that the new poll, to be held Sunday, must go off "without any interference from outside".
Putin for his part gave a laconic answer to a question about his views on the presidential election.
"Heads of state come and go but the Ukrainian people remain," he said.
The Russian leader added that he had worked with opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko in the past "and our cooperation wasn't bad at all".
Putin vocally backed pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in the Ukrainian election in November and went as far as to declare him the winner of the poll despite widespread reports of irregularities.
Although reluctant to criticize Putin publicly, Schroeder called Putin twice after Yanukovich's "victory" to discuss German concerns about the poll and Moscow's role in it.
German officials hailed Putin's eventual support for a repetition of the election as a triumph for Berlin's restrained diplomacy.
12/21/2004 13:46 GMT - AFP