Putin Announces The Annexation Of 4 Ukrainian Regions To Russia

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Ukrainian regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson have become Russian. In a lengthy speech, he condemned what he called the West's control of the world order. On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that his country had taken a "decisive step" in response to the Russian action.

At a ceremony hosted by the Kremlin for the annexation of the Ukrainian regions, Putin delivered a lengthy speech in which he stressed that the annexation of the four new regions of the Russian Federation expresses the popular will of millions and that the residents of those regions have become Russian citizens forever.

The Russian president urged Kyiv to stop all its military operations in Ukraine, and said, "We call on the Kyiv regime to immediately stop fighting, stop all hostilities... and return to the negotiating table."

Putin added that Russia will do everything to defend its territory, and the Kyiv regime should respect what he described as the popular will, stressing that "it is the power that will determine the political future in the world."

He pointed out in this context that the West is trying to change the foundations of growth in the world, and prevents societies from developing and defending their sovereignty by their means.

He considered that the West "has abandoned family values, and Russian society will not accept Western trends and abnormal behavioral patterns."

The power dollar

Putin accused the United States of imposing the dollar's power on the world after World War II, and considered that "the West wants to classify us as an enemy and Europe does not want a practical solution to the energy crisis. The West does not refrain from spreading false propaganda against us. But these lies will not warm the Europeans in the winter."

He also attacked European policies, saying that Europe "accepts the new American colonial plans, and the West targets our partners and neighboring countries." He added that "carrying out sabotage and explosions in gas pipelines in the Baltic is among the means of confronting Russia, and the West is the beneficiary."

The Russian president accused the West of producing biological weapons and using humans in Ukraine as experiment fields. He also stressed that the United States and Britain had turned countries and cities into ruins, and Washington had left bodies behind in many countries.

In his speech, he also stressed that Russia is a great country and will not accept to live on the basis of "false international rules", and that the West has no moral right to dictate its will while dividing the world into civilized and savage nations.

Decisive step

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that his country had taken what he described as a decisive step, by signing the request for rapid accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Zelensky stressed that Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia as long as Putin is president, adding in a video broadcast on the Internet that "Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia as long as Putin is president of the Russian Federation... We will negotiate with the new president."

Earlier, the Ukrainian presidency announced that the National Security and Defense Council discussed measures to ensure collective security at the Ukrainian and European levels.

It also confirmed that the meeting, chaired by Zelensky, discussed confronting Russia's attempts to annex Ukrainian lands, before the official announcement of its annexation by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

International reactions

In the first international reaction to Putin's speech and his announcement of the annexation of Ukrainian regions, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, "Our position toward Ukraine is consistent and is to respect its sovereignty while taking into account the security concerns of any other country." It added, "We are ready to work with the international community to reduce escalation in Ukraine."

On his part, European Council President Charles Michel said that "the European Union and its citizens stand with Ukraine's sovereignty and its right to defend its territory until its liberation." He stressed that "Russia puts global security at risk by annexing Ukrainian regions, and we will not recognize this step."

In turn, the European Commission said that Crimea, Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk are Ukrainian territories, and we will never recognize their annexation to Russia, stressing that Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty are non-negotiable.

The British Foreign Office stated that it had informed the Russian ambassador of our protest in the strongest terms against the illegal annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry stressed that the international community should reject the illegal annexation of Ukrainian lands by Russia, and the Austrian Foreign Ministry said that Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, and Zaporizhia will remain Ukrainian regions, just like Crimea.

The Polish Foreign Ministry stressed that the international community cannot remain passive in the face of the Russian violation of the international order, and the Moldovan presidency said, "We strongly condemn Russia's move to illegally annex occupied areas after a fake vote at gunpoint."

In Washington, the head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that his country would never recognize Putin's announcement of the annexation of Ukrainian lands. He added, "We will not give any importance to Putin's attempts to change the map of Europe."

NATO and the G7

In this regard, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, "NATO will not enter into a direct military conflict with Russia, and we are not a party in the conflict, and our role is to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine. It's too expensive for us."

He considered that Moscow's threat to use nuclear weapons is blackmail for the international community, and Russia should realize that there is no winner in any nuclear escalation, stressing that "after reckless and unwise Russian rhetoric, we are now seeing an annexation of Ukrainian lands, which is a dangerous escalatory step."

"If Russia stops the fighting, Ukraine will do the same," Stoltenberg said, calling on Putin to end the war on Ukraine, and also stressed support for Kyiv's right to choose its own path and decide the type of security alliances it desires.

On their part, the G7 foreign ministers said, "We will never recognize the fake referendums in Ukraine that were conducted at gunpoint, and we reiterate that Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporizhia, and Crimea are Ukrainian territories."

As US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, "We and G7 countries will hold accountable any entity, individual, or country that provides political or economic support to the Russian steps," vowing to impose severe sanctions on government officials and their families in Russia and Belarus.