KIEV: Russia’s announcement that it will recognize separatist elections in eastern Ukraine “undermines” attempts to end a six-month war there, a senior Ukrainian foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

“Russia’s intentions directly contradict the Minsk (peace) accord, undermine the agreed process on de-escalation and peaceful resolution, and continue to weaken trust in it (Russia) as a reliable international partner,” the official, Dmytro Kuleba, said.

Pro-Russian separatist rebels in the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine are holding the leadership election Sunday in an attempt to legitimize their de facto control of a swathe of territory.

Earlier Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “we expect the elections will go ahead as agreed, and we will of course recognize the results.” President Petro Poroshenko’s spokesman lashed out, saying that the rebel election “will never be recognized by the civilized world.” The polls in the self-declared rebel republics “put the entire peace process under threat,” spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko said.

Moscow rejects accusations in Kiev and Western capitals that it is behind the armed uprising in Ukraine’s industrial heartland in which some 3,700 people have been killed since April.

However, the decision to lend legitimacy to the rebels’ leadership vote was one of most overt acts of support so far for the two unrecognized “people’s republics” that insurgents are carving out in eastern Ukraine.

Senior Ukrainian foreign ministry official Dmytro Kuleba said Moscow was violating the peace deal it had itself sponsored in the Belarussian capital Minsk on September 5, ushering in an uneasy truce.

“Russia’s intentions directly contradict the Minsk accord, undermine the agreed process on deescalation and peaceful resolution, and continue to weaken trust in it (Russia) as a reliable international partner,” Kuleba said, calling the separatists “terrorists.”

Only a strong Western security alliance can negotiate better ties with Russia, NATO’s new secretary general said Tuesday.

Jens Stoltenberg said his experience as Norway’s prime minister was that robust defense capabilities and a solid trans-Atlantic bond were fundamental requirements in order to bring about constructive relations with Russia.

In his first policy speech since taking office Oct. 1, Stoltenberg said there was no contradiction between wanting to keep NATO strong and continuing efforts to engage with the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“NATO is here to stay. Russia is here to stay. So we’re going to have some kind of relationship,” Stoltenberg said. “(The question is) what kind?” Norway’s status as a member of the US-led defense alliance, Stoltenberg said, meant his small nation has been able to deal confidently with the Kremlin on a whole range of issues, from military matters and fisheries to energy, the environment and maritime border disputes.

“I believe there is a lesson here for us now,” the former two-time Norwegian prime minister said. “That only a strong NATO can build a truly constructive and cooperative relationship with Russia.” “But to get there, Russia would need to want it, and to take clear steps to make it possible,” he added.

Stoltenberg also said he has been in contact with the United Nations to see if there is any “specific” role NATO could play in helping combat the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.

He noted that some of the alliance’s 28 nations, including the United States and Britain, have already sent military forces to West Africa but said it was “too early” to say whether NATO itself should take part.