Vienna, Nov 4 (IANS): UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday said the elections in eastern Ukraine last Sunday were "an unfortunate and counter-productive development".
"The quote and unquote elections in the eastern part of the country this past Sunday are an unfortunate and counter-productive development," Xinhua quoted Ban as saying in his remarks to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna.
A ceasefire agreement in Ukraine was reached Sep 5. However, Kiev said the rebels have violated the agreement by conducting the elections without the Ukrainian government's permission.
Ukraine and the West have been accusing Moscow of backing the rebels in Eastern Ukraine, an allegation Russia denies.
Western states imposed sanctions on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, which Moscow strongly opposed and imposed some retaliatory sanctions on Western states as well.