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           Russia to Recognize 'People's Republics' Election Results

   by VOA News

   Russia announced Tuesday it will recognize the results of upcoming
   elections in two separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.

   Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the voting scheduled for November 2
   would be important for the "legitimization of power" in the
   unrecognized "People's Republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk.

   While the rest of Ukraine headed to the polls on Sunday, nearly three
   million voters were unable to cast ballots in the eastern part of the
   country, where months of fighting between Ukrainian government forces
   and pro-Russia separatists has killed more than 3,700 people.

   Rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine, who launched a rebellion against the
   Kyiv government in April, said they would conduct their own poll.

   President Barack Obama said Monday in a statement that the United
   States will not recognize elections in separatist-controlled areas
   unless they comply with Ukrainian law and are held with the consent of
   the Ukrainian government.

   In the rest of the country, with almost 85 percent of the votes counted
   from Sunday's parliamentary elections, two pro-Europe parties are in
   the lead.

   Ukraine's Central Election Commission reports Prime Minister Arseniy
   Yatsenyuk's Popular Front and the bloc headed by President Petro
   Poroshenko each have about 22 percent of the vote.

   The likeminded Self Help Party of western Ukraine was in third place
   with about 11 percent, while the Opposition Bloc, made up of allies of
   ousted Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych, was fourth with
   nearly 10 percent.

   Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk both back closer ties with the European Union
   and both have campaigned for reforms widely seen as needed to pull the
   country back from the brink of bankruptcy. Coalition talks are
   underway.

   Tensions remain high in eastern Ukraine, despite a September cease-fire
   between Kyiv and the pro-Russian separatists. Heavy shelling Monday
   rocked the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, but city
   authorities reported by evening the situation was quiet.

   Kyiv and a host of Western governments accuse Moscow of orchestrating
   and directly supporting the rebellion as part of effort to destablize
   Ukraine for taking a pro-Europe course.

   Russia has rejected the charges, with President Vladimir Putin accusing
   the West of backing a "coup d'etat" that toppled the Yanukovych
   government.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-to-recognize-peoples-republic-
   election-results/2498922.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-to-recognize-peoples-republic-election-results/2498922.html