More from Reuters on the strong German reaction to yesterday's vote:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday Berlin found it incomprehensible that "official Russian voices" should recognise an election held by pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.
Sunday's elections have been condemned by Kiev and its Western allies as illegal. Russia's foreign ministry was quoted on Monday as saying Moscow "respects" the outcome of the vote.
"It is all the more incomprehensible that there are official Russian voices that are respecting or even recognising these so-called elections," spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular government news conference.
The current developments in east Ukraine rule out any premature lifting of EU economic sanctions against Russia, he added. If the situation worsened, further sanctions may be necessary, Seibert said.
Where to next, Transdniester?
"With armed men in the polling station, no voter lists, and international observers coming from an organisation concocted the night before the vote, these were no normal elections.
"But then the Donetsk People’s Republic is no normal country. It is no country at all, according to most of the world. But the vote for prime minister here and in neighbouring Luhansk region on Sunday was one more step towards creating a new reality on the ground and carving out a chunk of Ukraine that will no longer controlled by Kiev."
And that's just the beginning of Shaun Walker's excellent piece on the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk votes. He drives home the point that these votes have "given hope to older generations that they will never again be part of Ukraine."
Read on here:
LATEST:
NATO's top military commander, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, says the elections held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine do not correspond with a September 5 truce deal and will not improve the situation.
TOP NATO GENERAL SAYS RECENT RUSSIAN AIR INCURSIONS IN EUROPE INCLUDED MORE PLANES, MORE PROVOCATIVE FLIGHT PATH THAN PREVIOUS ONES
-- Reuters
Breedlove also says Russia continues to resupply separatists in Ukraine, estimating that some 250-300 Russian forces are still operating inside Ukraine, involved in training.