AKIPRESS.COM - The U.S. joined Germany, the EU and others on Monday in rejecting the elections held in the People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

"The United States condemns the illegitimate, so-called 'elections' held on Sunday by Russia-backed separatists in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk," said Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council.

Meehan said that the vote contravened Ukraine's constitution, the Minsk ceasefire accord signed in September, "and the most basic electoral norms."

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki similarly said that the US "deplores and does not recognize" Sunday's elections, nor "any of the leaders chosen in this illegal vote."

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday said that the manner in which the polls were conducted was "extremely questionable," while European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini issued a statement calling the elections "a new obstacle on the path to peace in Ukraine."