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Zyuganov, Zhirinovsky Hold Pre-election Meeting


Moscow, June 3 (RFE/RL) -- Russian ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Russian Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov agree upcoming presidential elections should take place peacefully.

The two presidential hopefuls expressed this view when they met today in Moscow.

Zyuganov, who is trailing President Boris Yeltsin in most opinion polls - which are often unreliable - has accused the Kremlin leader of planning to disrupt the election if he fears he may lose. Yeltsin's aides, in turn, have alleged that Zyuganov will declare the poll invalid if he does not win.

Zhirinovsky spokesman Viktor Filatov told Interfax news agency that Zhirinovsky and Filatov did not discuss any possible power sharing agreement after the June 16 presidential poll.

Filatov did not rule out such a pact, but observers find it highly unlikely given Zhirinovsky's fierce anti-communist stance. The ultra-nationalist recently has called for a grand coalition to prevent Russia lapsing into chaos and conceded he is unlikely to come higher than third in the vote.
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