Pro-Russian separatists have voted in controversial elections Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have voted in controversial elections that Kyiv and the West say they will not recognize. The separatists who control parts of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions held elections Sunday

Pro-Russian rebels voted to set up a separatist leadership in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, aiming to take the war-torn region closer to Russia and defying Kiev and the West, as shelling continued across the territory. The United States and European Union have denounced the vote as illegitimate, which

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone that Sunday’s planned elections in eastern Ukraine were illegitimate and would not be recognized by European leaders, a Berlin government spokesman said on Friday. Merkel and Putin held a joint telephone conversation

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, speaking after a gas agreement with Russia was nailed down, said on Friday Ukraine would guarantee deliveries of gas through its territory to Europe to make sure Moscow had no room for «blackmailing». Yatseniuk, speaking to Ukrainian energy officials,

With Shift From Ukraine To Russia, Crimea’s Business And Pleasure Uprooted Ukraine’s Maidan movement, the choice of President Petro Poroshenko last spring, and this past Sunday’s election of the most pro-European parliament in its history offers the West an historic opportunity. With Sunday’s

The foreign ministers of four Central European countries and Britain have condemned a plan by pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine to hold local elections. In a joint statement after their meeting Thursday in the Slovak capital of Bratislava, the ministers called the vote set for Sunday

The latest parliamentary elections in Ukraine have been characterized in the West as a victory for pro-European forces. But the terms “pro-European” and “anti-European” no longer serve as useful reference points in Ukrainian politics. In these elections, after all, not one of the twenty-nine

(Reuters) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said on Thursday he had no idea who the Ukrainian diplomat behind a news story that Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had reached an official deal on Crimea was. «I have no idea who Bogdan Yaremenko is, we have more than 3,000

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned an election being organized by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying the vote would violate the country’s constitution. The Nov. 2 vote would be being held in defiance of Ukrainian national elections last Sunday in which

(Reuters) — The European Union and United Nations condemned plans to hold elections in rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine on Sunday, with the EU explicitly denouncing Moscow’s support for the separatists’ plans. In separate statements on Wednesday, two days after Russia said it would recognize the

(Reuters) — European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on Russia and Ukraine on Thursday to finish negotiations on deliveries of Russian gas to Ukraine after discussions the previous day failed to produce results. Barroso, who spoke to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko several

Ukraine and Russia have failed to reach a gas agreement at their overnight talks with the European Union, with more negotiations to take place Thursday evening. «The negotiations are not yet over, we’ve just finished a long discussion on documents that must be prepared based on the results of the

(Reuters) — Russia’s lower house of parliament is ready to cooperate with the new assembly in Ukraine, its chairman said on Wednesday, although it will be dominated by pro-Western forces. Parties that want to move Kiev further away from Moscow’s orbit towards mainstream Europe will lead the

Ukraine’s Arseny Yatseniuk said on Wednesday he expected to stay on as prime minister at the head of a new pro-Europe, reformist government as his party hung on to a slight lead in last Sunday’s election with the vote count nearly complete. Power-sharing talks have been going on behind the scenes