Photo from UNIAN

Ex-head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration Pavlo Zhebrivsky has said by organizing "elections" in the occupied territories of Donbas, Russia sent a signal that Vladimir Putin would talk only with U.S. President Donald Trump.

"Why was Russia in such a rush to hold elections in Donetsk and Luhansk regions? First, to humiliate Europe and to show that the Normandy talks, involving [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and [French President Emmanuel] Macron, yield no results. Russia wanted to show that Putin would only talk with Trump. Perhaps, even with the Chinese, but on other issues," he told ZIK TV channel.

According to Zhebrivsky, another reason for holding "elections" was Moscow's desire to bring occupation forces to the negotiating table, the idea which Putin had earlier voiced via his Ukraine crony, Viktor Medvedchuk.

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As UNIAN reported earlier, the Russian-puppet "DPR" and "LPR" on November 11 held sham "elections" of the so-called "heads of people's republics" and "deputies of people's councils."

The international community has condemned the pseudo-vote.

The European Union, the United States, and Japan declared that the holding of "elections" in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine was a violation of the Minsk agreements.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed that the fake "elections" in Donbas would not be recognized either by Ukraine or by the international community.