German Chancellor Angela Merkel again spoke out against elections in Ukraine's eastern region, which is controlled by separatists, calling them "illegal".

The pro-Russian separatists held elections on Nov. 2, under a temporary agreement granting autonomy to the eastern Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to a report from Bloomberg Businessweek.

Ukraine had scheduled that vote to take place on Dec. 7, but the separatists set their own schedule in a move that could undermine a fragile cease-fire that's been in place since Sept. 5, when the agreement was signed in Minsk, Belarus.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the Nov. 2 elections were a "farce that jeopardizes the entire peace process" and that Ukraine won't recognize those results as legitimate.

"The pseudo-elections undermined the law and aggravated the situation in the Donbas (region)," Poroshenko said. "We are ready to provide broad powers laid down in the law only to the legally elected local government, not to the bandits who coronate themselves."

Western leaders, including Merkel and Poroshenko, are looking to the Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement for direction on how to proceed in this delicate situation. The agreement had a special status clause that allowed temporary autonomy to the eastern region of Ukraine.

Poroshenko feels as though the rebels have taken advantage of the autonomy and has threatened to scrap the special status law. Russia has been monitoring the situation and reportedly is increasing military presence on the eastern border with Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president is set to meet with his National Security and Defense Council on Tuesday evening to discuss revoking the special status law. The outcome of that meeting will be closely watched by the East and West, as the two sides are in the midst of their worst relations since the Cold War.

As the U.S. and its European allies dismissed the elections in Donetsk and Luhansk, the Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday it "respected" the results, which provided a "mandate to the elected representatives to solve practical tasks and restore normal life in the regions."

"Russia isn't yet contributing in the way we would like, particularly regarding Luhansk and Donetsk," Merkel said according to The Associated Press. "The Minsk agreement should be the basis. So the economic sanctions were inevitable and there is no reason at the moment to lift them."

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