Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he and the country's authorities in general will accept no form of pressure on the issue of holding elections in the rebel-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"There is no pressure on the Ukrainian side, we simply won't accept it. We will be fighting for the sovereignty of Ukraine, including on the issue of electoral modality," he said in an interview with Ukrainian television channels, aired on Sunday evening.