The official statement by Moscow about their readiness to recognize the illegal elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics scheduled for Nov. 2 is destructive, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.
“Holding any voting on this part of Ukraine’s territory by the so-called DPR and LPR will hinder the peace process in Donbas, run contrary to Minsk agreements and will not be recognized by the international community,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said at a briefing on Tuesday.
“In this connection, today’s statements by some Russian representatives are absolutely destructive and provocative, including by the foreign affairs minister and the press secretary of the Russian president, which are already being interpreted by the terrorists as an incentive coming from Russia to conduct their illegal elections on Nov. 2,” he stressed.
Russia has no reason to refuse to recognize the elections due to be held in Donbas on Nov. 2, the Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.
“The decision to hold the elections was adopted by the leadership of these republics. These elections will take place,” he told the Russian News Service.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Moscow will recognize the results of the Nov. 2 elections in the Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk (LPR) People’s Republics, which should abide by the Minsk agreements.
“We see it as a top priority of the Minsk agreements. We expect the elections to take place as planned, and we will certainly recognize their results,” Lavrov told the LifeNews television station and the Izvestia newspaper.
These elections will help legitimatize the authorities of the DPR and the LPR, he said.
The heads and legislatures of the DPR and the LPR are expected to be elected on Nov. 2.
