The European Union said it would not recognize the result of a referendum on self-rule held by pro-Moscow rebels in east Ukraine on Sunday, calling it illegal, according to Reuters.
"The so-called referenda in ... parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions were illegal and we do not recognize the outcome. Those who organized the referenda have no democratic legitimacy," Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said in e-mailed comments to Reuters.
Ninety percent of voters in a key industrial region in eastern Ukraine came out in favor of sovereignty Sunday, pro-Russian insurgents said in announcing preliminary results of a twin referendum that is certain to deepen the turmoil in the country, according to Reuters.
Roman Lyagin, election chief of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, said around 75 percent of the Donetsk region's 3 million or so eligible voters cast ballots, and the vast majority backed self-rule, Reuters reported.
With no international election monitors in place, it was all but impossible to verify the insurgents' claims, according to Reuters. The preliminary vote count was announced just two hours after the polls closed in an election conducted via paper ballots.
Kocijancic said holding the referendum ran counter to the objectives of an agreement reached by Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the United States last month that aimed to defuse the Ukraine crisis, according to Reuters. Ukraine's Crimea region was annexed by Russia in March after a similar vote
Kocijancic said the European Union encouraged the Ukraine government to push ahead with efforts to reach out to all regions through a proposed national dialogue, including steps towards an inclusive dialogue on constitutional reform, Reuters reported.
Ukraine's government said last week it was ready to talk to political parties and regional officials in eastern regions on ways to resolve the country's crisis, but would not talk to "terrorists," according to Reuters.
The European Union urged all parties to support holding free and fair presidential elections on May 25, Kocijancic said, Reuters reported.
The upheaval in Ukraine broke out after former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich turned his back last year on a trade and political cooperation with the European Union in favor of a $15 billion bailout from Russia, which sparked prolonged street protests that ended with him fleeing Ukraine, according to Reuters.
