On May 11th 2014, the self-proclaimed governments in Donetsk and Luhansk held referendums on the issue of self-rule. Allegedly, almost 90 percent of the voters supported independence from Kyiv. Although the international community will not recognise the voting results, these regions are already lost for Ukraine. The local authorities of Donetsk have requested membership in the Russian Federation, but for now the Russian Foreign Ministry has taken a moderate position, respecting the referendums’ results, and calling for a dialogue with Kyiv.