04.11 Russia Shoots Down �?Inadequate’ UN Draft Statement on East Ukraine Vote

UNITED NATIONS, November 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has opposed a UN Security Council statement to condemn Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections in eastern Ukraine which it said was "inadequate", a spokesperson for the Russian mission to the UN said late on Monday.

"There was a draft press-statement that was inadequate. For this reason it was not adopted," said Alexei Zaitsev, the first press-secretary to the Russian ambassador to the UN. He did not elaborate.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the 15-member council said earlier that UN tried to draft a statement on what it regards as illegal elections. The vote has also been criticized by the European Union, France, Germany and some other nations.

The elections in eastern Ukraine ran off smoothly and showed a high voter turnout, according to the local election commissions. With 100 percent of ballot lists counted, acting Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko was confirmed as the official leader of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), while the candidacy of Igor Plotnitsky was backed in the adjacent Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).

Russia said it would recognize the results of the vote since it lent legitimacy to the people negotiating a peace settlement in Ukraine.