Russia on Monday urged the Ukrainian government to stop military operations in the country's restive east, where pro-independence insurgents have organized elections.

"Today it is important to take active measures in order to ensure a sustainable dialogue between Kiev and representatives of Donbass," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told reporters, referring to Sunday's elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics.

Noting that Russia respects the choice made by the local residents, he said Moscow will "help in every possible way" to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Karasin said the elected representatives of those regions "have enough powers to develop a stable and wide-ranging dialogue with Kiev authorities."

"It is quite obvious for us that this work can yield results only on the condition of a dialogue based on mutual respect and equality and Kiev's refusal of military operations," he said, adding that both sides should honor their commitments to the Minsk cease-fire agreement signed in September.

The diplomat also said some Western officials' warnings of new sanctions on Russia over its stance on the elections were "counterproductive."

"The language of sanctions is an absolutely counterproductive method of tackling conflict situations. This has already been proven by history," he said.

Self-styled local election commissions announced Monday that Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky have been elected "presidents" of the two self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics respectively.

Russia said earlier that it would recognize the results of the polls, while the United States, the European Union and the United Nations have condemned the elections.

 The Security Service of Ukraine said it had launched a criminal investigation into the elections to punish "actions aimed at forceful change or overthrow of the constitutional order or takeover of government." Endi

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