This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/03/germany-urges-russia-respect-unity-ukraine-donetsk-elections

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Germany urges Russia to respect unity of Ukraine after Donetsk elections Russia tells Ukraine to halt military offensive in wake of rebel elections
(about 2 hours later)
The German foreign minister has called on Russia to respect “the unity of Ukraine” after a controversial vote in the rebel-held east of the country gave victory to pro-Russia rebels. Russia has called on Ukraine to halt its military offensive against pro-Moscow rebels in the east, saying the insurgent leaders had enough authority to hold talks with Kiev after elections in parts of the country under their control.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the elections had “gone against the letter and the spirit of the Minsk agreement” aimed at bringing peace to eastern Ukraine and said Berlin would “judge Russia and President Putin on their statements that the unity of Ukraine cannot be called into question”. The deputy foreign minister, Grigory Karasin, made the appeal after Moscow recognised separatist elections in two eastern Ukraine regions dismissed as illegal by Kiev and the west.
Russia endorsed a victory for Ukraine’s pro-Moscow rebel leadership late on Sunday after a vote the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, called a new obstacle for peace. The hastily arranged polls were boycotted by mainstream international observers and only a handful of marginal rightwing politicians from Europe claimed to be monitoring the vote. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, called the elections a new obstacle for peace.
The hastily-arranged poll was boycotted by all mainstream international observers and saw only a handful of marginal rightwing politicians from Europe claim to be monitoring the vote. Vote results announced on Monday showed Alexander Zakharchenko, the rebel leader in Donetsk, claiming an easy victory. The head of the separatists in Luhansk region, Igor Plotnitsky, won by a similarly large margin.
“We respect the expression of the will of the residents of south-east [Ukraine],” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, cited by local news agencies. “The elected representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk regions obtained a mandate to hold negotiations with central Ukrainian authorities to solve problems … via a political dialogue,” Karasin said.
“Those elected have received a mandate to resolve the practical issues of re-establishing normal life in the region.” But an angry European response, likely to be echoed in Washington, raises the temperature in the west’s dispute with Russia over its support for the separatists.
The emboldened rebel leadership in the two separatist enclaves appeared in little mood for compromise after their victories were confirmed. A spokesman for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, ruled out any premature lifting of EU economic sanctions against Russia. He said Berlin found it incomprehensible that “official Russian voices” should recognise an election held by pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine and further sanctions might be necessary if the situation worsened.
“Ukraine does not want peace, as it claims. Obviously it is playing a double game,” Alexander Zakharchenko, the newly elected president of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, told journalists. In the runup to the vote, rebels carried out heavy shelling of government positions across the conflict zone. The UN says more than 4,000 people have died since fighting started in April.
Zakharchenko, already the undisputed leader in Donetsk, took 81% of the vote, according to rebel election officials, against 9% each for his two opponents. “It is all the more incomprehensible that there are official Russian voices that are respecting or even recognising these so-called elections,” the spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said.
In the neighbouring Luhansk region, current insurgent supremo, Igor Plotnitsky, a former Soviet army officer, was on 63% with about a third of the ballots tallied, Russian media reported. The German foreign minister had earlier called on Russia to respect “the unity of Ukraine”. Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the elections had “gone against the letter and the spirit of the Minsk agreement”.
In the runup to the vote rebels carried out heavy shelling of government positions across the conflict zone. The UN says more than 4,000 people have died since fighting started in April. The emboldened rebel leadership in the two separatist enclaves appeared in little mood for compromise after their victories were confirmed. The head of the rebel election body in Donetsk, Roman Lyagin, said inescapable conclusions needed to be drawn from the vote.
“Kiev has to come to terms with the idea that Donbass is not part of Ukraine,” he said. “Whether they will recognise the result of our vote or not is Kiev’s problem.”
But Russia appeared to hint in a foreign ministry statement that it would stop short of supporting outright independence for the Donbass, as Ukraine’s heavily industrial eastern regions are known collectively.
“In view of the elections, it is extremely important to take active steps toward promoting sustained dialogue between central Ukrainian authorities and the representatives of the Donbass,” it said.