US President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that he would “never ever acknowledge the results of referendums” organized by Russia “in Ukraine.
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“I want to be very clear about this: the United States will never, never, ever recognize Russia’s claims to the sovereign territory of Ukraine,” the US president said during a summit in Washington that brought together Pacific island leaders.
“The so-called referendums were an absolute parody and parody. President Biden added that the results were organized in Moscow, praising the “sacrifices” made by Ukrainians in order to “save their people and preserve the independence of their country.”
Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he further considered that “Russian aggression against Ukraine, aimed at pursuing Putin’s imperial ambitions, is a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Listen to the interview with Remy Landry, Canadian Armed Forces veteran and associate professor at the University of Sherbrooke on QUB Radio:
The US president’s words come at a time when the Russian president must formalize Friday in Moscow Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions, which was widely condemned by Kyiv and its Western allies.
The Kremlin is scheduled to host a ceremony at 1200 GMT on Friday during which the annexation of Donetsk and Lugansk (east) and Kherson and Zaporizhia (south) regions of Ukraine will be formalized. Vladimir Putin will deliver a “huge speech” on the occasion, according to his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
Earlier on Thursday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken condemned the annexation “referendums”, which are “neither more nor less than confiscation of land.”
“This parody of the referendums organized by the Kremlin is just a futile attempt to cover up at least another attempt to seize land in Ukraine,” Blinkin said in a statement.
