DONETSK, May 22. /ITAR-TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic will not take part in Ukraine’s snap presidential elections scheduled for May 25, Vladimir Makovich, a deputy chairman of the presidium of the Donetsk republic’s Supreme Council said on Thursday.

“The Ukrainian authorities claim they are still organizing elections on the territory of the now former Ukraine,” he said at an extraordinary session of the republic’s legislature and added that Donetsk lawmakers had banned presidential elections. As many as 78 lawmakers voted in favour of this ban, no one voted against or abstained, he noted.

“In line with this decision, there will be no presidential elections in the Donetsk People’s Republic on May 25.

Earlier, the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions held referendums on May 11, in which most voters supported independence from Ukraine. After the plebiscite, co-chairman of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin said the DPR asked Russia to adopt it as a constituent member. But the Russian Foreign Ministry had no information on whether Moscow has received an official request from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to become part of Russia.