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Russian senator urges Kiev to start talks with Donbass authorities after polls

On November 11, Donbass held the elections of heads of the LPR and DPR

MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko and the country’s government should launch talks with the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donbass republics legitimately elected at the November 11 polls, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov told TASS.

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"I believe it is high time now, when it is not too late, the Kiev government and the president understood that they should hold talks with the legitimately elected authorities of Donetsk and Lugansk. They should take part in these talks, if the Ukrainian authorities do not want to ultimately lose these territories," Dzhabarov said.

The attempts to forcefully regain control of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic are doomed to failure, and the aftermath may be tough for Europe, the senator warned.

Dzhabarov called the election results "absolutely predicted." "The voter turnout was very high. This turnout hasn’t been seen in a long time. This signals that Donetsk and Lugansk back the line pursued by their leadership earlier [before the elections]," he said.

The senator rejected the claims by a number of Western countries that the elections undermine the Minsk agreements. "I cannot understand how they disrupt the Minsk accords. This issue is not written down in the Minsk agreements at all," he said. Now the LPR and the DPR have legitimate authorities, which are ready to implement the Minsk deal, but Ukraine should also seek to fulfill these agreements.

Preliminary election results

On Sunday, Donbass held the elections of heads of the LPR and DPR, and also MPs of unicameral parliaments, the People’s Councils. With 96% of ballots counted, Acting LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik secured 68.4% of the vote, and the Peace for Lugansk Region public movement received 74.13% of the vote.

Acting DPR leader Denis Pushilin is winning the election by a landslide, garnering 60.9% of the vote, with 97.52% of the ballots counted. His public movement Donetsk Republic was backed by 72.74% of voters.

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