Kiev Says Russia To Be Hit With New International Sanctions For Upcoming Donbas Elections

Russia will be hit with new international sanctions in response to the upcoming elections in Donbas, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Saturday.

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2018) Russia will be hit with new international sanctions in response to the upcoming elections in Donbas, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Saturday.

The elections of the heads and members of the parliaments of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are scheduled for Sunday. The Ukrainian authorities have already stated that they would not recognize the election results. The United States and the European Union have also condemned the vote, arguing that it undermines the commitments taken under the Minsk peace accords, while Russia has said the elections do not contradict the agreements.

"The reaction to the fake elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories will be the strengthening of international sanctions. We are already working on it with our partners," Klimkin said on Twitter.

In a video address, Klimkin described the elections as "a crime against Ukraine."

Relations between Moscow and Kiev deteriorated in 2014 after Crimea's reunification with Russia and amid the crisis in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities have accused Russia of interfering in Ukraine's internal affairs and being involved in the conflict in Donbas. The European Union and the United States imposed restrictive measures against Russian individuals, companies and economic sectors, while Moscow responded by imposing restrictions on food imports from the countries that supported the sanctions.

Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations, stressing that it is not party to the internal conflict in Ukraine and wanted the country to overcome its political and economic crises.