Georgia rejects so called elections in Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry (MFA) has condemned Sunday's so-called leadership vote in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The MFA called the elections "non-legitimate” and said holding the elections represented total disrespect and neglect of the fundamental principles of international law and the Ukrainian legislation.

"These provocative actions that have nothing in common with the citizens free expression of will, hinder the peaceful resolution of the current situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the Ministry said.

Western governments and the United Nations also denounced the so-called elections and said the vote violated the terms of a ceasefire agreement signed by Russia, Ukraine and rebel leaders in September, which envisioned local elections being held under Ukrainian laws.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that organisers of the vote said Alexander Zakharchenko, a 38-year-old former mining electrician, had easily won the election as head of the "Donetsk People's Republic", an entity proclaimed by armed rebels in the days after they seized key buildings in cities of Ukraine's Russian-speaking east last April.