Blinken calls Russia referendums 'land grab' as UN chief condemns Putin's annexation plans

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday derided Russia's President Vladimir Putin-backed referendum in Ukraine's four territories, labelling it as an attempted "land grab" that is illegal and was in violation of international law. “The Kremlin’s sham referenda are a futile effort to mask what amounts to a further attempt at a land grab in Ukraine,” Blinken said in a statement. “To be clear: the results were orchestrated in Moscow and do not reflect the will of the people of Ukraine," he added. 

Blinken has been a staunch vocal critic of the referenda of the four Russian-occupied regions, saying that its results on joining Russia were fabricated and that Washington will "never recognize" the results of such votes. Russia's "purported annexation of Ukrainian territory" will be rejected internationally, Blinken noted. He also accused Russia of its senseless war that caused the Russian men of military age to flee the country in a mass exodus, adding that despite such a crisis Russian occupying the areas in Ukraine compelled Ukrainians "to cast ballots at gunpoint, in fear for their safety."

West stands ready to provoke 'bloodbath' in any country: Putin 

Meanwhile, speaking via a video link with the heads of the intelligent services of the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States,  Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West stood ready to provoke "colour revolutions" and a "bloodbath" in any country. H stopped short of naming any country. Kremlin has repeatedly accused the US and its Western military alliance NATO of using Ukraine as "cannon fodder" instigating it into a war with Moscow. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during his UN address, also blasted Russia for what he described as its “sham referenda”, an address that was strongly criticised by Kremlin. Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, asserted that the Ukraine President should participate in person at the UN, in line with the rules. 

"The Council should not turn into a forum for political shows or cinema,” he maintained. The referenda were held over the past five days in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions as the occupied forces and the Russian-backed leaders voted on whether the Ukrainians wished to become part of the Russian Federation. Voting took place in polling centres and de facto pro-Russian authorities accompanied by soldiers, also went door-to-door with ballot boxes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Rosemary A. DiCarlo said on Twitter. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took to Twitter to criticise the referendum, saying: "In this moment of peril, I must underscore my duty as Secretary-General to uphold the UN Charter. The Charter is clear. Any annexation of a State's territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the Charter and international law." UN Chief's remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Russia will hold a signing ceremony on Friday to incorporate the annexed four occupied regions of Ukraine into the Russian Federation.

"Tomorrow in the Georgian Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace at 15:00 [1200 GMT] a signing ceremony will take place on the incorporation of the new territories into Russia," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.