Answering a question about the presidential election in Ukraine, Mr Putin said that Russia can neither recognise nor contest the results of the election as they have not been officially announced yet.
The President warned against using OSCE observers to provide a political assessment of the election in Ukraine. If people continue using OSCE members for such purposes, the organisation will continue to lose its international standing and even the very sense of its existence, Mr Putin said.
See also
Working visit to Portugal
November 23, 2004