Ukraine urges Russia to stop separatist elections

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine's foreign minister urged Russia on Tuesday to dissuade separatists in the east from holding their own elections on Nov. 2 because the unauthorized vote could lead to a permanent divide.

​Ukraine will hold nationwide parliamentary elections on Oct. 26, but pro-Russian rebel leaders in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are boycotting them and holding their own votes on Nov. 2.

The planned separatist elections are "a way to get nowhere," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said in an interview with USA TODAY. "Russia should pressure (rebels in) Donetsk and Luhansk not to hold these elections, to avoid a frozen conflict."

Unified pressure from the United States and Europe is needed to persuade Russia to take that step, Klimkin said.

To resolve the conflict, he said, legitimate local elections need to be held under Ukrainian law and in accordance with a Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement between the national government and separatists, who have been aided by Russia.

Ukraine has offered the rebellious areas political autonomy and protections for ethnic Russians, but many rebels want to separate entirely from Ukraine and become part of Russia.

Ukraine "will never give up" Donetsk, Luhansk and the Crimea region Russia annexed in March, he said.

The United States and the European Union have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea and its support for the separatists in the east. Russia has retaliated with its own sanctions but also helped push for the cease-fire. Since then, there continues to be sporadic fighting.

If the West doesn't insist that Russia play a constructive role in resolving the conflict, "the challenge will simply become an extreme problem for the European Union itself," he said. "Donetsk and Luhansk will become a destabilizing factor for the whole continent."

The confrontation in Ukraine will become a "Pandora's Box for future development" in Europe, sending waves of internally displaced people and radical elements throughout Europe, Klimkin said.

The conflict has already created an estimated 1 million displaced people, according to the United Nations refugee agency. And Russian speaking and nationalist European fighters have streamed in from neighboring countries to fight for both sides.

Backing up Ukraine will not require enormous European sacrifice, he said. It will mean less European dependence on Russian gas so it is less prone to Russian influence.

Klimkin also urged European leaders to help back Ukraine with aid packages and increased investment. "It's our common task," he said. The U.S. has offered an aid package that includes non-lethal military support.