US Does Not Recognize Referendums In Ukraine

White House press secretary Jay Carney

– US does not recognize referendums in Ukraine (PressTV, May 12, 2014):

White House spokesman Jay Carney says the United States does not recognize the results of Sunday’s autonomy referendums in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.

In a press conference on Monday, Carney said the votes are “illegal under Ukrainian law” and they were “a transparent attempt to create further division and disorder.”

The White House also blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin over the crisis in the country.

The situation “suggests that there has not been a significant change in attitude by Russia towards the efforts by separatists in Ukraine to breed chaos and to prevent the effective carrying out of national elections,” Carney said.

“The focus of the inter

national community, including Russia, should be on supporting the Ukraine government’s efforts to hold a presidential election on May 25,” he added.

The US accuses Russia of violating Ukraine’s sovereignty by stirring up pro-Russia protests in eastern Ukraine. Russia denies the allegation.

Meanwhile, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the vote “was an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country.”

“We do not recognize the illegal referendum,” she said. “It was illegal under Ukraine law.”

On Sunday, two eastern Ukrainian regions of Lugansk and Donetsk overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence from Kiev.

Sources say the two regions have begun preliminary talks on forging a union.

Russia said it respects the will of the people who voted in the referendums.

“In Moscow, we respect the will of the people of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and are counting on practical implementation of the outcome of the referendum in a civilized manner, without any repeat of violence and through dialogue,” the Kremlin said in a statement on Monday.