The US Embassy in Kiev condemned on Tuesday the upcoming elections in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, claiming that they would only sow seeds of further conflict.
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2018) The US Embassy in Kiev condemned on Tuesday the upcoming elections in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, claiming that they would only sow seeds of further conflict.
The elections of the heads and members of the parliaments of the self-proclaimed republics are scheduled for November 11. The Ukrainian authorities have already stated that they would not recognize the elections' results. France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium and Germany also condemned the upcoming vote.
"We join the EU, Germany, Canada and others in condemning Nov. 11 sham 'elections' in the pseudo-republics Russia created in eastern Ukraine. Illegitimate elections and so-called "republics" only encourage continuation of this unacceptable conflict and will not be recognized internationally," a message on the embassy's Twitter account read.
Russia has stressed that the elections do not contradict the Minsk accords on east Ukrainian settlement and pointed to the fact that Ukraine has yet to fulfill its commitments under the peace deal.
The conflict in Donbas started in 2014, when Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics that refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup.
In February 2015, the warring parties signed the Minsk peace accords to end the hostilities in the region, but the situation has remained tense, with both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
