Moscow, Sept 21, (dpa/GNA) – In an attempt to forestall Kiev’s ongoing counteroffensive against Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, Moscow has hastened its plans to absorb four of the country’s regions, through a series of referendums.
Moscow-backed separatists, announced plans on Tuesday to hold referendums on joining Russia in the occupied regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya later this week, triggering fierce condemnation from the international community.
World leaders slammed plans to hold the votes as soon as Friday, saying that no result would ever be recognized as legitimate, and calling the move a further unacceptable provocation.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said “all those involved in these ‘referenda’ and other violations of international law in Ukraine will be held accountable,” and threatened fresh sanctions on Russia.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) warned, that the planned votes would violate “international standards and obligations under international humanitarian law,” and stressed in a statement that their outcome would “therefore have no legal force.”
In his Tuesday evening video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, reacted calmly to the news, however, saying simply that Kiev’s position would not “change with noise or any announcements,” and stressing, “we are defending Ukraine, we are liberating our country.”
Pro-Russian separatists have been calling for votes to be conducted as quickly as possible, as the Ukrainian military continued to recapture Russian-occupied territory in country’s south and east.
The announcements dominated discussions, as world leaders gathered for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, with many dismissing Moscow’s plans as illegal.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who still enjoys a warm relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, called on both Russia and Ukraine to find a “dignified way out” of the conflict.
“We need to find a fair and viable diplomatic solution that will offer a dignified way out for both parties,” Erdogan said in his UN address.
Ankara would work towards ensuring the end of the war by guaranteeing the “territorial integrity and sovereignty” of Ukraine, Erdogan added, urging Russia to return its occupied territory in Ukraine.
“If peace is going to be established in Ukraine, of course, the returning of the land that was invaded will become really important. This is what is expected,” Erdogan told an interview with US broadcaster PBS late on Monday, adding Moscow should also “return Crimea to its rightful owners.”
However, Moscow showed no sign that it was seeking to end the war on Tuesday, with calls for weapons manufacturers to boost production as quickly as possible, as Russian forces in Ukraine faced what Putin called “effectively the entire NATO arsenal stockpile.”
Putin said at a meeting with industry leaders, according to the Interfax news agency, “the organizations in our defence industry have to prepare the delivery of the needed weapons, technology and armaments in the shortest time possible.”
Meanwhile, Russia has withdrawn its Kilo-class submarines from the port of Sevastopol in the Russian-annexed Crimea to the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk, the British Ministry of Defence reported on Tuesday, attributing the move to the Black Sea Fleet’s greater vulnerability to attack, as Ukrainian longer-range capability improves.
The ministry pointed out that Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, has originally been intended to guarantee the Black Sea Fleet’s security. “Base security has now been directly undermined by Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine,” it noted.
GNA