Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed “accession treaties” formalizing Russia’s illegal annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine, marking the largest forcible takeover of territory in Europe since the second world war.
The ceremony took place on Friday in the St. George’s Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in the presence of the country’s political elites and comes on the heels of Kremlin-orchestrated fake referendums in the four Ukrainian regions – Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk. Before signing the documents, Putin delivered a speech about the accession of these territories to Russia.
Putin kicked off the ceremony with an angry speech in which the Russian leader issued new nuclear threats, promising to “protect” the newly annexed lands “with all the forces and means at our disposal”.
“The people have made their choice. An unequivocal choice … This is the will of millions of people,” Putin said, adding that the citizens of the four occupied regions will be part of Russia “forever”.
EU leaders reject and unequivocally condemn Russia’s ‘illegal annexation’ of Ukraine’s regions
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reacted to the ceremony at the Kremlin on Twitter, stating that “the illegal annexation proclaimed by Putin won’t change anything.”
“All territories illegally occupied by Russian invaders are Ukrainian land and will always be a part of this sovereign nation,” she said.
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