President Vladimir Putin made his comments at an economic forum in St Petersburg
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said he will respect the outcome of Ukraine's presidential election.
Speaking in St Petersburg, he said Russia was prepared to work with whoever was elected Ukraine's president in Sunday's vote.
It is the first time Mr Putin has explicitly indicated that he will accept Ukraine's election result.
Violence in the east, particularly Donetsk and Luhansk, has seriously disrupted preparations for the polls.
Separatist insurgents in the two regions declared independence after disputed referendums earlier this month and have pledged to derail the presidential poll.
After the votes on 11 May, Moscow said it respected the results and called for peaceful "practical implementation" of the "will of the people", even though Mr Putin had urged a delay to the referendums days before.
'Civil war'
The presidential elections were called after the last elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, was deposed in February amid mass protests against his pro-Russian policies.
"We understand that the people of Ukraine want their country to emerge from this crisis. We will treat their choice with respect," President Putin told an economic forum in St Petersburg.
"It would have been better to hold a referendum and adopt a new constitution. Under the current constitution (Viktor) Yanukovych is still in power," he added.
Until now he has left open the possibility that Russia might question the election result on Sunday, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall.
But now he has left little doubt that he has decided to accept the outcome, even if somewhat reluctantly, she adds.
A pro-Ukrainian soldier was wounded in a gun battle with separatist fighters near Donetsk on Friday
Members of the pro-Russia Vostok Battalion assembled after clashes with the pro-Ukrainian fighters
Mr Putin also voiced concern that Ukraine would join Nato and said that he hoped the leadership in Kiev would end military action in eastern Ukraine.
He said he believed Ukraine had descended into "full-scale civil war" but denied that Moscow was behind acts involving pro-Russia separatists.
His comments follow some of eastern Ukraine's deadliest violence, with at least 14 government soldiers killed in clashes with pro-Russia separatists in the Volnovakha area on Thursday.
Further clashes were reported on Friday between pro-Russia separatists and self-defence fighters near the village of Karlivka in the Donetsk region, with reports of at least two people killed.
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