DONETSK, November 3 (RIA Novosti) – The elections held in the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk (DPR) do not contradict the Minsk agreements, DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko has announced.
"It was said there [in the Minsk protocol] that we have the right to hold our own elections. The date was not specified," Zakharchenko said at a press conference Sunday, adding that the elections held in the republic "do not contradict the Minsk agreements", which have been fully fulfilled by the DPR.
According to Zakharchenko, DPR is open for dialogue with Kiev and is waiting for "adequate action" on the part of the Ukrainian leadership.
The Minsk protocol, signed September 5 by the Contact group on the Ukrainian crisis envisages a ceasefire and suggests, among other things, that Ukraine should adopt a law on granting special status to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and ensuring early elections of the heads of the self-proclaimed republics.
Elections of regional leaders and legislative bodies in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics took place on Sunday.
Kiev and several western countries said they would not recognize the results of this vote and repeatedly called it illegitimate. 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.
