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Elections to legitimize authorities in east Ukraine, Kiev to go on using force — experts

The elections will not be recognized de jure in the West and in Kiev, but de facto, they will have to consider the will expression of the citizens, deputy head of the Institute for CIS States says

MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. Sunday’s elections will contribute to the legitimization of authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, but Kiev will continue attempts to resolve the conflict by force, experts believe.

“Elections will help to legitimize the authorities of DPR and LPR and the republics themselves, I believe. Of course, the elections will not be acknowledged de jure in the West and in Kiev. But de facto, they will have to take into account the will expression of the citizens,” deputy head of the Institute for CIS States Vladimir Zharikhin said.

“Stability will increase in these republics. As the situation with the vertical power structure was still uneasy there, by receiving the mandate, the new authorities will be able to resolve these problems,” he said.

The director general of the Caspian Cooperation Institute, Sergey Mikheyev, said following the elections the Kiev authorities will not drop plans to resolve the conflict in the region by force.

“The Ukrainian army is still numerically superior. The party of war in Kiev is strong. Kiev will not recognize these elections and this means that shelling and provocations will continue until the resumption of armed actions,” he said.

The director general of the Center for Political Information, Alexey Mukhin, said the situation is unlikely to stabilize in the LPR and DPR as Kiev is interested in continuing the war.

“The West and in particular the US gives money only for elections and the war. Elections to the Rada are over, that’s why the only source of income for Kiev is gone. The only way to get the West’s funds is to continue the so-called anti-terrorist operation carried out by Kiev in eastern Ukraine,” he said.