White House denounces Ukraine's separatist elections as 'sham'

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The White House spoke out Monday against the separatist elections held Sunday in eastern Ukraine.

"These sham elections contravened Ukraine's constitution, the law on 'special status,' and the most basic electoral norms," said National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan. "As we have said previously, the United States will not recognize the authority of any individuals claiming to represent parts of Donetsk and Luhansk on the basis of this illegal vote."

The European Union and NATO have also voiced their opposition to the Nov. 2 elections as a violation of both Ukrainian law and the Minsk Protocol that established Dec. 7 as the date for early elections in Donetsk and Luhansk.

The White House also singled out Russia for seeking to legitimize the separatists' elections.

"... Moscow's continued failure to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements calls into question its commitment to supporting a peaceful resolution to the conflict in parts of eastern Ukraine.

"We call on Russia's leaders to adhere to the commitments they made in Minsk to include the full withdrawal of foreign forces, the restoration of Ukrainian control of its sovereignty over the border with OSCE monitoring, and local elections in accordance with the special status law, which set these for December 7."

Meehan warned that "Should Moscow continue to ignore the commitments that it made in Minsk and continue its destabilizing and dangerous actions, the costs to Russia will rise."