MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. Russia’s Foreign Ministry strictly formulated the country’s position on the elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday.

All words have been specially chosen, he said.

Answering a question if the word 'respect' equals 'recognize', Ushakov said these words are different. "We specially chose the word ‘respect’," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier said elections in the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics are important from the point of view of legitimization of power.