You're reading: NATO: Elections in DPR and LPR undermine efforts on resolving east Ukraine conflict

Brussels -- The elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) contradict the Minsk agreements and undermine efforts to achieve peace, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said. 

“The planned ‘elections’ organized by self-appointed and armed rebel groups in parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Sunday undermine efforts towards a resolution of the conflict,” he said in a statement released by NATO’s press service on Friday.

According to Stoltenberg, “they violate Ukrainian laws and run directly counter to the Minsk agreements co-signed among others by the two self-proclaimed ‘republics’ and by the Russian Federation.”

He said that statements by Russian officials that Russia would recognize these so-called “elections” showed that “Russia continues its efforts to destabilize Ukraine.”

He said that NATO would “not recognize so-called separatist elections.”

Stoltenberg also called on Russia to respect its Minsk commitments, which “could help pave the way for a peaceful solution.”

He added that his organization fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.