BRUSSELS, November 3 (RIA Novosti) – The presidential and parliamentary elections in the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) stand in the way of achieving peace in Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief said.
"I consider today's 'presidential and parliamentary elections' in Donetsk and Luhansk 'People's Republics' a new obstacle on the path towards peace in Ukraine," Federica Mogherini was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the European Commission Sunday.
"The vote is illegal and illegitimate, and the European Union will not recognise it," Mogherini added.
On Sunday, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics held elections of the heads of the local governments and representatives of the legislative bodies.
A total of 100 observers from a number of European countries and the United States arrived in the region to monitor the elections.
The authorities in the European Union and the United States said earlier the elections would come against the Minsk agreement on the regulation of the crisis in Donbas, and that the international community would not recognize them.
Russia, on the contrary, has expressed its intention to recognize the elections and emphasized that not recognizing would run counter to the Minsk protocol and undermine efforts to reach peace settlement in the country.
