Russia said on Monday it backs the will of people in Donetsk and Lugansk, where independence vote was held a day earlier.

Russia said on Monday it backs the will of people in Donetsk and Lugansk, where independence vote was held a day earlier.

"Moscow respects the expression of the people's will in Donetsk and Lugansk," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The statement called for "the results to be implemented in a civilized manner, without any repeat of violence, through dialogue between representatives of Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk."

Meanwhile, the Kremlin also called for dialogue between authorities in Kiev and pro-federalization activists, as European Union ministers prepared to meet in Brussels to consider toughening sanctions on Russia.

Separatist officials in Donetsk province said 89 percent of voters backed breaking away from Ukraine in Sunday's vote.

Roughly similar results were expected later Monday from Lugansk, the other separatist province that voted.

The United States and other Western countries have said they will not recognize the outcome of the vote, which comes some two months after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

Isolated violence flared during voting in some parts of eastern Ukraine, where troops have been waging an offensive against well-armed rebels in control of several towns.

A group of pro-Kiev armed men were seen firing into a crowd of pro-Russian activists.