BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st November, 2018) The European Union believes that the upcoming elections of leaders and lawmakers of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic (DPR and LPR), located in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, contradict the Minsk peace accords, Maja Kocijancic, the spokesperson for EU foreign affairs and security policy, said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
While the elections in the DPR and the LPR are scheduled for November 11, Kiev has already announced that it does not recognize the elections.
"The so-called elections that will be held in the so-called Luhansk People's Republic and Donetsk People's Republic on the 11th of November run contrary to the spirit and letter of the Minsk agreements, which have specific provisions regarding the organization of local elections in the region. All steps that would obstruct the implementation of the Minsk agreements must be avoided, and we expect Russia, in particular, to make full use of its influence on the separatists in this regard," Kocijancic told reporters.
She added that the European Union supported sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine "within its internationally recognized borders."
In 2014, Kiev launched a military operation against the DPR and the LPR as they proclaimed independence, refusing to accept the new central government, claiming that it had come to power in a coup. In 2015, the warring parties signed the Minsk peace accords set to end hostilities in the eastern Ukraine, but the situations remains tense, with both sides accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
