The reactions were quick. “Russia is hastily organizing fake referendums” in Ukraine, the White House national security adviser denounced on Tuesday.
“The United States will never recognize Russia’s claims to allegedly annexed parts of Ukraine,” Jake Sullivan added during a press conference.
The authorities installed by Moscow in four regions of Ukraine announced on Tuesday the urgent holding of “referendums” on annexation by Russia from September 23 to 27, amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
For Jake Sullivan, these referendums and Moscow’s intention to mobilize more forces in Ukraine testify to the military setbacks of the Russian forces, who had to withdraw from various regions they had occupied since February. “These are not steps that an unsuspecting country would take,” he noted. “It’s not showing strength, it’s the opposite.”
“The Signature of Cynicism”
Emmanuel Macron also reacted on Tuesday: “The very idea of organizing referendums in regions that have suffered from the war is the signature of cynicism.”
“I think it is a very imitative principle of the democratic form or of democratic legitimacy, but it is not by imitating that we find the sovereignty of the peoples,” he added, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
For his part, Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder stressed that even if Moscow formally annexed the Ukrainian territories based on these ballot boxes, Washington would continue its military support for Ukraine.
“From my point of view, this is just a media operation aimed at diverting attention from the difficult situation the Russian military is currently in,” he said.
“We will continue to cooperate with Ukraine and our international partners to provide it with the support it needs to defend its territory,” he concluded.
Source: BFM TV
