Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of conducting a “land grab” during the Ukrainian referendums and promised again that the US would never acknowledge Moscow’s annexation.
Blinken stated that “the Kremlin’s phony referenda are a failed effort to disguise what amounts to a further attempt at a land grab in Ukraine.”
He said that the “principles of world peace and security” were being violated by the show being staged by Russia’s go-betweens.
The US “does not, and will never, accept the legality or result of these sham referenda or Russia’s putative annexation of Ukrainian land,” he said.
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According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin will make a statement on Friday to declare the annexation of four regions of Ukraine.
Despite Ukrainian victories on the ground against Russia, which invaded on February 24, Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons to preserve the regions.
The ballots were cast in Kremlin-controlled regions and followed a script created in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
Blinken referred to the most recent elections as part of a “diabolical plot,” claiming that Russians were bussed in and Ukrainian inhabitants had driven away. The results themselves were also in doubt.