MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) — The politicians elected in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) have received mandate for a solution to resolve the crisis and to restore normal life in the regions, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday.
"We respect the choice of the people of the South-East [of Ukraine]. The elected representatives have received the mandate for resolving practical problems aimed to restore normal life in the regions," the statement read.
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.
The United States, the European Union and the United Nations condemned the elections, claiming they undermined the peace agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus.
Meanwhile, Russia 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.
In April, Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation in the country's southeast, where independence supporters refused to accept the new government put in power following a coup in February. The political discontent led Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine to declare themselves sovereign states.
