US President Joe Biden has threatened Russia with severe sanctions in the event of annexations after the “referendums” in four Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine. “The Russian referendums are a sham — a pretext to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force in a flagrant violation of international law,” Biden said Friday. Despite sharp international protests, the mock referendums continued on Saturday.
The US would work with its allies and partners to ensure further “quick and tough” economic measures against Russia in this case, Biden said in the statement. In his daily video message on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was confident that the international community would respond appropriately to the so-called referendums. “The world will react absolutely fairly to the pseudo-referendums – they will be unequivocally condemned,” Zelenskyy said.
Officials collected votes
Despite sharp international protests, so-called referendums on Russia’s annexation began early on Friday. Voting will take place in the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine and in the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya. On the second day of the vote, pro-Russian officials continued to go door-to-door on Saturday to collect votes. Polling stations will not open until Tuesday, the last day of voting.
A rapid annexation by Moscow is expected after Tuesday. Kiev and its Western allies have criticized the votes as “mock referendums”. A connection of the four Ukrainian regions to Russia as a result of the “referendums” is condemned by the West as illegal. For example, the heads of state and government of the seven leading democratic economic powers (G7) condemned Friday’s mock referendums in the strongest possible terms.
The fake referendums served as a “false pretext” to change the status of sovereign Ukrainian territory that had fallen victim to Russian aggression. “These actions are clearly in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law,” the organization said.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
