During a Minsk meeting of the Tripartite Contact Group on Donbas settlement Tuesday, Russian delegates declared that they recognized the so-called "elections" in the "DPR-LPR," First Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's humanitarian envoy to the TCG, Iryna Gerashchenko, wrote on Facebook following the talks.
“In all groups, the Ukrainian side raised the issue of canceling the pseudo-elections organized by the Kremlin in the occupied Donbas, and of their non-recognition,” Gerashchenko wrote.
"Today, Russia officially declared that it would recognize the results of the 'elections' of Moscow’s puppet regimes which it organized. The Ukrainian side states: Russia, the state that launched the pseudo-elections in the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk, the 'elections' that contradict the letter and spirit of the Minsk agreements, today issued with this statement the mandate for war, which it had long declared against Ukraine,” noted Gerashchenko.
According to the Ukrainian envoy, the actions on the part of Russia and its puppets lead to the breakdown of political and diplomatic negotiations in Minsk and destabilization of the situation at the frontline.
"This is a replay of the 2014 scenario, when the Kremlin-organized pseudo-elections led to the breakdown of the Minsk talks, the non-fulfillment of Minsk agreements, and serious destabilization in Donbas, thousands of casualties among the military and civilians," Gerashchenko emphasized.
The official recalled that Russian pseudo-elections in the occupied part of eastern Ukraine had already been condemned by the European Union, the U.S., and other G-7 states, as well as most of the UN Security Council members.
"They are not recognized anywhere in the world, except for the organizing country, the Russian Federation. And, unfortunately, this adventure will entail serious questions regarding security and political consequences. An important note: OSCE Special Representative Martin Sajdik made an official statement in Minsk today: pseudo-elections in the occupied Donbas categorically contradict the spirit and letter of the Minsk Agreements," wrote Gerashchenko.
As UNIAN reported, Dmitry Peskov, a press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke of "extreme importance" of seeing who will lead occupation administrations in the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions following pseudo-elections on November 11. He also claimed that the so-called "elections" in the occupied areas did not contradict the Minsk agreements.
