Contested referendums and now a caveat. The Russian president warned kyiv on Friday that Moscow was ready to defend the Ukrainian territories newly annexed to Russia, despite Western countries questioning the validity of the ballot box.
“We will defend our lands by all means,” he assured, without giving details, during a speech with victorious accents delivered before the Kremlin, during which the annexation of four Ukrainian regions to Russia was endorsed.
The Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporijjia regions were the subject of “referendums” last week. The “yes” to join Russia won almost 100%, in votes played beforehand, according to experts.
New “(Russian) citizens forever”
Highlighting the “unequivocal choice” of the population of the annexed regions, the Russian head of state assured that the inhabitants of the annexed regions would be “citizens (of Russia) forever”, calling his country a “liberator”.
“The people voted for our common future,” he said.
Vladimir Putin has also pledged to “do everything possible to ensure the security of the peoples” linked to Russia against the Western “enemy”. Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov had already warned Ukraine this Friday in case of an attack against the newly annexed Ukrainian territories, assuring that it would be considered an “act of aggression against Russia”.
Vladimir Putin had also assured last week that Russia “will certainly use all weapons at (its) disposal” to defend its lands.
Source: BFM TV