Ukraine's pro-Russian insurgents in the separatist provinces of Lugansk and Donetsk said in a joint statement Tuesday that they were pushing back local elections to next year in line with Western demands.

The political negotiators of the two self-proclaimed "people's republics" said they had "agreed to postpone the (Donetsk) elections of October 18 and the (Lugansk) poll of November 1 until next year."