Putin said that every possible step will be taken to protect these new areas that have become part of Russia. At the same time, Putin has urged Ukraine to sit for talks, but cautioned that Moscow will not leave its parts included in Russia.
Image Credit source: AP/PTI
Ukraine on four more areas of Russia has taken possession. President of Russia Vladimir Putin announced the merger of these regions with Russia during an event on Friday. With this, now the Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine have joined Russia. Putin organized a ceremony in the Kremlin to announce the annexation of parts of Ukraine to Russia, defying international law. Putin said that every possible step will be taken to protect these new areas that have become part of Russia. At the same time, Putin has urged Ukraine to sit for talks, but cautioned that Moscow will not leave its parts included in Russia.
At the annexation ceremony at the Kremlin’s grand white and gold St George’s Hall, Putin and the heads of four regions of Ukraine signed treaties to join Russia. With this, the war going on for seven months is expected to intensify further.
Putin warns Ukraine
The ceremony took place three days after Russia held a referendum on annexing Ukraine-occupied territories. Ukraine and Western countries termed it as a direct land grab, saying that it is a false exercise at gunpoint. The separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine have been supported by Russia since the declaration of independence in 2014. Russia took this step only a few weeks after Ukraine’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Russia occupied the southern Kherson region and some areas of neighboring Zaporizhzhya, days after Russian troops attacked Ukraine on February 24.
The two houses of the Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament will meet next week to ratify treaties to include these regions in Russia and send them to Putin for his approval. Putin and his allies explicitly warned Ukraine not to make any aggressive attempts to retake these regions, saying that Russia would consider any such act an attack against its territorial sovereignty and that all available resources would be available to retaliate. (with reference to Russia’s nuclear weapons). Asked about Russia’s plans, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia aims to liberate at least the entire Donetsk region.
Source: www.tv9hindi.com”