In a presser on Monday, Carney said the votes are "illegal under Ukrainian law" and they were "a transparent attempt to create further division and disorder."
The White House also blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...over the crisis in the country.
The situation "suggests that there has not been a significant change in attitude by Russia towards the efforts by separatists in Ukraine to breed chaos and to prevent the effective carrying out of national elections," Carney said.
"The focus of the international community, including Russia, should be on supporting the Ukraine government's efforts to hold a presidential election on May 25," he added.