U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has stressed the importance of holding free and fair elections to the Verkhovna Rada and special local elections in some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

If the state border is protected, if the elections in Ukraine are free and fair, not only to the Verkhovna Rada, but also the December 7 polls in Donbas, everyone will benefit from it, Nuland said at a meeting with students in Kyiv on Tuesday.

In addition, Nuland urged Ukrainians to study carefully the information about the candidates for MPs before going to the polls on October 26.

The early parliamentary elections in Ukraine are scheduled for October 26.

The Ukrainian parliament on September 16 passed a presidential law introducing special self-government procedures in some parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions for a period of three years and on holding early local elections in these regions on December 7.