Europe warns Russia over Ukraine rebel poll

Europe yesterday blasted Moscow's recognition of separatist elections in Ukraine, saying the polls, which sought to put a legal veneer on the bloody pro-Russian rebellion, violated a peace agreement.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the elections went "against the letter and spirit" of an internationally brokered truce deal in September that was meant to halt the war in eastern Ukraine.

Steinmeier urged Russia to respect "the unity of Ukraine."

"We will judge Russia and President (Vladimir) Putin on their statements that the unity of Ukraine cannot be called into question," he said on Twitter.

Earlier, EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini issued a statement slamming the rebel leadership elections as "a new obstacle on the path towards peace in Ukraine."

The angry European response, likely to be echoed in Washington, raised the temperature in the West's dispute with Russia over its support for separatists who have torn a swathe of Ukraine's industrial heartland out from the pro-Western government's control.

Russia, which risks facing a ratcheting up of already punishing EU and US sanctions, ignored Western appeals ahead of the vote and gave its full backing to elections that the Ukrainian government branded an illegal "farce."