EU Ambassadors agreed to impose sanctions because of the elections in Donbas
Ambassadors of twenty-eight EU countries agreed to impose sanctions against nine individuals responsible for the organization and holding of elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, reported TASS and RIA Novosti, citing sources in Brussels.
“Ambassadors agreed on sanctions against nine individuals who are responsible for the so-called elections in Eastern Ukraine,” TASS’s source reported. The decision to impose sanctions will be ratified by the EU Council, published in the official EU magazine. “The foreign ministers are expected to approve the decision at the planned meeting on December 10,” the agency’s source stated.
The elections of the Heads of the DPR and LPR and the deputies of their Parliaments took place in the Donbas on November 11. The pro-Russian militants decided to hold elections immediately after the death of DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko. Denis Pushilin won the elections in Donetsk while Leonid Pasechnik won in Luhansk. Parliamentary elections were carried out too. As a result, the Donetsk Republic party and Peace to the Luhansk Region party supported by Pushilin and Pasechnik won the elections.
The results of the elections were not recognized by Ukrainian authorities. The USA also considered them illegitimate and threatened to continue imposing sanctions against Russia.