NATO: Referendums in Ukraine have no legitimacy (Getty)
condemn NATO “NATO” strongly planned referendums in some Ukrainian regions under Russian control.
“We strongly condemn the so-called referendums” that the separatists plan to organize in Ukraine to join Russia, the alliance said in a statement on Thursday. He added: “The allies have not and will never recognize Russia’s illegal annexation ofCrimea“.
“The sham referendums in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions of Ukraine have no legitimacy and would be a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter,” the statement said.
He stressed that NATO allies would not recognize the “illegal and illegitimate” annexation (of those areas). He pointed out that “these Russian decisions, including the partial military mobilization, further escalated the war.” “We continue to reject Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric,” he added.
The statement affirmed the alliance’s political and practical support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and right to self-defense.
On Tuesday, representatives of Russia-backed Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions announced their intention to organize referendums on joining Russia in the coming days.
Moscow, in turn, welcomed the move, while Kyiv accused Russia of waging a hybrid war to annex Ukraine.
Referendums on joining Russia are scheduled from Friday to Tuesday in many of the largely Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine, which make up about 15 percent of the country’s territory.
(Anatolia, Archyde.com)