One of the leaders of eastern Ukraine's separatist rebellion said on Monday that joining the Russian Federation would probably be an "appropriate step" following a weekend referendum on self-rule.
Separatist leaders said they had received over 80 percent support for self-rule in a referendum on Sunday that was denounced by Kiev as bogus.
"Joining the Russian Federation would probably be an appropriate step," Roman Lyagin, head of the electoral commission, told a news conference in Donetsk.
Denis Pushilin, another senior member of the rebel leadership in Donetsk, said however that there were no plans for any follow up referendum next Sunday. Some people in the east have said a second referendum should be held to determine the ultimate fate of Donetsk and neighboring province Luhansk, now that they have voted for self rule.
"Which country we will join will be decided after consultations with experts," he said.
The two regions have declared themselves to be the "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Luhansk People's Republic", disavowing links with Kiev.
Separatist leaders have accused Kiev of launching an armed onslaught against eastern regions and say any door to negotiations with the national leadership was closing.
Both Lyagin and Pushilin have in the past spoken of the possibility of union with Russia, which Kiev accuses of fomenting the rebellion in the east.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers hinted that any disruption of elections in Ukraine on May 25 could trigger new economic sanctions against Russia.
"The European Union will pay particular attention to all parties' attitude and behavior towards the holding of free and fair presidential elections when deciding about possible future measures," they said in a statement after a meeting in Brussels.
At the same meeting, they agreed to add 13 people and two companies to the existing sanctions list in a bid to pressure Moscow over its stance on Ukraine.
Luhansk
Ukraine's eastern region of Luhansk may hold a referendum on joining Russia, state news agency RIA reported, citing a spokesman for the region's pro-Russian separatists.
"If this decision to hold a referendum on joining Russia is taken, then, respectively, the will of the people will be taken into account," RIA cited a spokesman for the pro-Russian separatists.
The region was one of two Ukrainian provinces that held a referendum on self-rule on Sunday. A referendum organizer was reported as saying that 96.2 percent of voters supported autonomy for Luhansk.
Final results in the referendum organized by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's Luhansk region showed 96.2 percent support for the region's self-rule, the Russian state RIA news agency reported.
The agency, citing one of the organizers of the referendum, said that Luhansk will appeal to the United Nations to recognize the region's independence.
The vote, which took place on Sunday in two east Ukraine provinces, has been condemned by the West, but Moscow said that on Monday that it respects its outcome.
In the same regard, Ukrainian acting president Oleksander Turchinov condemned Sunday's unofficial self-rule referendum in eastern regions as a farce inspired by Russia to destabilize Ukraine and topple the country's leaders in Kiev.
He said in a statement that the polls, in which pro-Russian rebels declared an overwhelming vote for a break with Kiev, had no legal consequence for the country.
"These processes are inspired by the leadership of the Russian Federation and are destructive to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions' economies and threaten the lives and welfare of citizens and have the aim of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, disrupting May 25 presidential elections and overthrowing Ukrainian authorities."
Russia's Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there were no new international talks planned for now on Ukraine and that progress in de-escalating the crisis was possible only if the rival sides in Ukraine held direct talks.
Lavrov, speaking at a joint news conference with Uganda's foreign minister in Moscow, also reiterated the Kremlin's position that Russia respected the outcome of the self-rule referendum held on Sunday in Ukraine's east.
International positions
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said he expected the European Union to agree to expand sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
"I believe so," he told reporters when asked whether EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday, would agree to expand the sanctions list.
Russia's Gazprom
Russian gas exports to Europe through Ukraine remained stable on Monday, a spokesman for state-controlled gas producer Gazprom said.
Last week, Gazprom said Ukraine's payments for gas supply in April fell due and that Kiev's total debt for Russian gas stands at $3.51 billion.
Gazprom supplies about 30 percent of the gas consumed in Europe, shipping about half of that via Ukraine.
This comes after Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said that Moscow is ready for further gas negotiations with Ukraine only after Kiev pays outstanding gas debt.
Yanovsky said earlier that a long-awaited deal for natural gas producer Gazprom to supply China with gas was close to completion.
"We hope that the negotiations will be completed as scheduled," Yanovsky told reporters, a little more than a week before President Vladimir Putin visits China. "The contract is, I would say, 98 percent ready."
Gazprom, Russia's top natural gas producer, has been in talks on gas supplies to China for over a decade. In April, it said it was aiming to finalize the deal this month.
REUTERS