ANKARA  

Russia has recognized elections held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, as Kiev and the European Union called them illegal.

Luhansk Chief Election Commissioner Sergei Kozyakov said on Monday that about 628,138 people voted in the polls for new parliaments and leaderships in the two self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and which were held in defiance of the Kiev government.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Russia respected the expression of the will of the residents of eastern Ukraine and said those who were elected had received a mandate to resolve problems and re-establish "normal life" in the troubled region.

The ministry also called for dialogue between the central Ukrainian government and the representatives of the Donbas region, in line with the Minsk cease-fire agreement agreed by both sides on Sept. 5 in Minsk, Belarus, in the presence of Russian and European authorities.

The deal aimed to put an end to months of deadly clashes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists.

- 'A terrible event'

However, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the "so-called" elections had brutally violated the Minsk agreement.

He said: "The farce at gunpoint organized by the two terrorist organizations in parts of Donbas is a terrible event that has nothing in common with the real expression of the people’s will."

Separately, the European Union said it would not recognize the “illegal” elections.

Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said Sunday night: "I consider today’s ‘presidential and parliamentary elections’ in Donetsk and Lugansk ‘People’s Republics’ a new obstacle on the path towards peace in Ukraine.

"The vote is illegal and illegitimate, and the European Union will not recognize it," she added.

www.aa.com.tr/en