Russia is risking further sanctions from the West by suggesting it will recognize the result of the Nov. 2 local elections held in some parts of war-torn Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Western and Ukrainian leaders have condemned the elections in the two self-proclaimed republics and say the sham vote threatens to derail the September cease-fire agreements, which stated local elections have to be held in accordance with Ukrainian law.
Russia, however, seems undeterred by the threat of tougher economic measures for violating the peace accord reached in Minsk, Belarus.
“We respect the expression of the will of the residents of the southeast. The elected representatives have received a mandate to solve effectively any problem to restore regular life in the regions,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Nov.3. The ministry also said that the election was “generally well-organized” and had a “high turnout.”
This “farce at a gunpoint organized by the two terrorist organizations in parts of the Donbas is a terrible event that has nothing in common with the real expression of the people’s will,” said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a statement on Nov. 2.
“We will measure Russia by the statements Mr. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin reaffirmed in Milan: that he supports the unity of Ukraine,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists on Nov. 3 during a visit to Indonesia. He added Russia should not use the opportunity to encourage separatists to pursue independence.
Daniel Baer, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said in Vienna on Nov. 3 that the United States “strongly condemns the holding of (Nov. 3’s) illegitimate, so-called local ‘elections’ that contravene Ukraine’s laws and constitution and contradict the Sept. 5 Minsk Protocol. Despite the uniform concern voiced by the international community over the proposed holding of these so-called elections, Russia failed to act in line with the agreement it signed less than two months ago, in order to prevent (the Nov. 3) actions that only seek to undermine a stable, united, and prosperous Ukraine. In so doing, Russia proved that it continues to act in defiance of international law and the fundamental norms of international behavior that have underpinned peace and security in Europe for over a generation.”
Baer also said, referring to the illegitimate election: “A piece of political theater produced by intimidation, Russian weapons, and root vegetables, does not confer legitimacy on anyone. Russia, as a signatory to Minsk, and as an instigator of the violence and conflict, should cease escalation and support implementation of Minsk, including of monitoring of the international border and real local elections consistent with Ukrainian law on Dec. 7.”
But the Russian Foreign Ministry and other representatives indicated that is exactly what will follow.
“The elections were a success in the most complicated situation imaginable,” first vice chairman of the United Russia party’s parliamentary faction Frants Klintsevich told a news briefing in Moscow. “We will definitely interact with them as we do with any legitimate government.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also said that “active steps should be taken to set up a stable dialogue between the central Ukrainian authorities and the representatives of Donbas along the agreements reached in Minsk. We’re ready, along with international partners, to constructively facilitate the regulation of the crisis in Ukraine.”
The Minsk agreements, signed on Sept. 5 and extended later that month, proclaimed a cease-fire in the east of Ukraine. But the agreement has been broken virtually every day, with dozens of casualties, and the self-proclaimed government in the east has indicated that they will continue military offensive.
Prime Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the announced winner of the Nov. 2 election, has repeatedly committed himself to taking other cities.
“Kramatorsk, Mariupol and Sloviansk will be ours. We are going to take them back and won’t rule out military action” he told Interfax on Oct. 23. He repeated those intentions during a meeting with voters on Oct. 30.
The conflict has claimed more than 4,000 lives since its inception in April, including the lives of at least 68 Ukrainian soldiers since the announced cease-fire.
“There is already no path to peace,” said political expert Volodymyr Fesenko, adding that “the hope for peace died with this election.”
The election proceeded without observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s election watchdog arm. The organization was a party to September peace deal, but said on Nov. 1 that it would not observe the elections.
