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Updated September 30th, 2022 at 00:02 IST

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacts to Russia's 'artificial referendums'

He thanked France for its support.European leaders have dismissed Russia's move, pledging that they will never recognize any annexation.

Russia
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for international support in opposing Russia’s planned annexation of four Ukrainian regions, following Kremlin-staged votes in them which are widely viewed by Western governments as illegitimate. Speaking during a meeting with the Head of the French National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, who was visiting Kyiv, the president branded the votes "artificial referendums."

He thanked France for its support.European leaders have dismissed Russia's move, pledging that they will never recognize any annexation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that four regions of Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - would be folded into Russia during a Kremlin ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to give a major speech.

Peskov said the regions’ pro-Moscow administrators would sign treaties to join Russia in the Kremlin’s ornate St. George’s Hall. The annexation would come just days after voters supposedly approved Moscow-managed “referendums” that Ukrainian and Western officials have denounced as illegal, forced and rigged.

Kremlin paved the way Tuesday to annex more of Ukraine and escalate the war by claiming that residents of a large swath overwhelmingly supported joining with Russia in stage-managed referendums the U.S. and its Western allies have dismissed as illegitimate.

Pro-Moscow officials said all four occupied regions of Ukraine voted to join Russia. According to Russia-installed election officials, 93% of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, as did 87% in the Kherson region, 98% in the Luhansk region and 99% in Donetsk. Possibly explaining the lower favourable vote in Kherson is that Russian authorities there have faced a strong Ukrainian underground resistance movement whose members have killed Moscow-appointed officials and threatened those who considered voting.

In a remark that appeared to rule out negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council by video from Kyiv that Russia’s attempts to annex Ukrainian territory will mean “there is nothing to talk about with this president of Russia.”

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Published September 30th, 2022 at 00:01 IST

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