The Minister of Foreign Affairs (MNE), João Gomes Cravinho, considered this Friday “completely illegal” the referendums that Russia is carrying out for the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories, predicting that “they will not be recognized by anyone.”
“Of course, these referendums are completely illegal and will not be recognized by anyone. Russia has already carried out this type of strategy in other contexts, specifically in Georgia, but there will be no international recognition,” Cravinho told reporters in New York. , on the sidelines of the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN).
“Therefore, the idea that from the moment these false referendums are held we start talking about Russian territory in Ukraine, that is an idea that has no place and, therefore, will not justify any new attitude on the part of Russia. Russia”, he assessed. .
The head of the Portuguese diplomacy declared that the referendums are a new form of aggression against Ukraine and said that he believed that the international community was reacting in the “correct way” to Moscow’s action.
“Now, from the point of view of trying to formalize, of trying to create an idea of legality in the occupied Ukrainian territories, no one in the international community has recognized the annexation of Crimea, much less will now recognize these territories under Russian attack as Russian. “, he emphasized.
The referendums on the accession of the Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson to the Russian Federation begin today and will last until September 27, indicated the pro-Russian authorities in those regions.
The official announcement of the holding of these popular consultations for the annexation of the Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation was made in a speech to the nation delivered on Wednesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with the mobilization of 300,000 Russian reservists to fight in Ukraine and a veiled threat. to use nuclear weapons against the West.
Faced with this mobilization of Russian troops -and the consequent need to reorganize NATO’s strategy in Ukraine’s neighboring countries, where it concentrated more military resources, machinery, war arsenal, in addition to human resources- Cravinho assured that “he did not see the need “. for Portugal to increase its contingent.
“We still don’t see that need. It may be that in six or eight months another conclusion will be reached, but for now we do not believe that this measure will have great military effectiveness. Obviously, to face the great losses suffered by Russia, although Putin does not admit it. But the logic can only be that,” he said.
“We do not believe that it will have major consequences in terms of Russian military capacity in the short term,” said the leader of the Portuguese diplomacy.
On Thursday, Cravinho participated in an informal meeting of transatlantic partners, attended by the NATO member and the Ukrainian multinational, Dmitri Kuleba, and where the escalation of the conflict was addressed.
“It was a moment where we were able, collectively, to see the latest developments on the Russian side. What I can say is that there is a collective determination regarding the idea that we cannot succumb to Russian intimidation attempts,” he said. .
“On the contrary, what we have to do as NATO is close ranks, continue supporting the states that border Russia, ahead of Putin,” Cravinho added.
The minister assured that there was still no indication of the need for an extraordinary NATO meeting, “because we are all convinced that we are doing exactly what is necessary,” he said.
João Gomes Cravinho and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Francisco André, accompanied the Prime Minister, António Costa, on a trip to New York for the 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Source: TSF
