UNITED NATIONS, November 3. /TASS/. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon believes that elections held on Sunday in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics came in violation of the Minsk agreements, a deputy official spokesman for the UN chief said.

Several days ahead of the elections, the UN chief made the same statement condemning the plans. His stance has been unchanged since then, spokesman Farhan Haq said.

The spokesman also refused to say whether the UN plans to cooperate with the new leadership of the DPR and LPR.

At Sunday’s elections, according to preliminary results the current prime minister of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, has received more than 70% of the votes. In the LPR, the winning candidate is the incumbent leader Igor Plotnitsky who has secured 63.17% of the votes.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday Moscow respects the will expression of the citizens of southeastern Ukraine. Russia considers the elections as a positive step towards settling the crisis in the country.

Prior to the vote, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the elections are held in line with the Minsk agreements and give a chance to switch the situation to a constructive dialogue. Lavrov said Russia is ready to recognize the results of the elections which are important for the legitimization of authorities.