KIEV, Ukraine
The controversial elections for new parliaments in eastern Ukraine "brutally violate the Minsk agreements" which were agreed on September 5 between pro-Russian separatists and the government, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated.
A statement, released via Poroshenko’s official website on Sunday, said “the so-called elections in the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have nothing in common with the expression of people’s will and brutally violate the Minsk agreements.”
Pro-Russian separatists went to the polls on Sunday in eastern Ukraine in a controversial election that attempted to install separate regional leaderships in defiance of the Kiev government.
"The farce, held at gunpoint and organized by two terrorist organizations in parts of Donbas, is a terrible event that has nothing in common with the real expression of the people’s will," President Poroshenko stressed.
"The international community, including many states and organizations, has already condemned these so-called elections. I expect that Russia will condemn them as well, since it is a brutal violation of the Minsk protocol of September 5 -- which was also signed by a representative of Russia."
The U.S. had said on Friday that it would not recognize the elections.
"If held, these ‘elections’ would contravene Ukraine’s constitution and laws and the Sept. 5 Minsk Protocol," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said ahead of the elections.
On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a statement last week that Russia would recognize the elections' results.
"The elections would pave way for a constructive dialogue for the situation in the east," he said.
Poroshenko underlined that “all elections on Ukrainian territory, in which the Ukrainian citizens vote, should be held solely within the boundaries of the Ukrainian constitution."
The elections organized by the separatists in eastern Ukraine come only a week after the Ukrainian government in Kiev organized its own official general elections on October 26.
Millions of Ukrainian voters had chosen from 6,627 candidates and 29 parties for the 450-seated Parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada in Ukraine.
The crisis was triggered in November 2013 when ousted former president Viktor Yanukovych announced the abandonment of a trade agreement with the EU and chose to pursue closer ties with Russia.
www.aa.com.tr/en
