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Bush Warns Ukraine To Conduct Fair Election


Kuchma was warned in a letter from Bush 20 November 2004 -- U.S. President George W. Bush is warning Ukraine that the United States will have to review its relations with Kyiv if tomorrow's presidential election is not fair.

In a letter to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma released today, Bush thanked Kuchma for sending Ukrainian troops to Iraq. But Bush said that if tomorrow's run-off vote is unfair, Washington "will be obliged to review our relations with Ukraine and with individuals who participated in fraud and manipulation."

Kuchma is due to deliver a national address today ahead of the runoff between pro-Moscow Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Western-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

High-profile observers are in Kyiv to monitor the vote, including Russian State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov and Richard Lugar, the chairman of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

(AFP/ITAR-TASS/AP/Reuters)

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