Kremlin: After Referendums, New Territory Will Be Treated as Russia
Moscow says it will treat its regions of Ukraine
voting to join Russia as its homeland
by Kyle Anzalone Posted
on September 23, 2022
The Kremlin says the security situation will
drastically change four areas of Russian-held Ukraine after a vote on joining
Russia is completed next week. Moscow appears ready to annex several regions of
Ukraine and defend it as it would the rest of Russia.
On Friday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to
reporters that the new areas will be treated as Russian territory. On Monday,
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would defend its territory
"with all available means." Later in the week, former Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev warned that any "encroachment on Russian territory
is a crime."
Russia organized referendums in Kherson and
Zaporizhzhia, and the Donbas republics, Donetsk and Luhansk. All four regions
are expected to vote in favor of joining Russia. The elections will run through
September 27.
The statements from Peskov and Medvedev suggest Moscow
will welcome adding the Ukrainian territory. In 2014, the Donbas republics
attempted to join Russia but were rebuffed by the Kremlin.
Western states have denounced the elections as a sham
and stated they will not recognize the results. On Friday, NATO
Secretary-General Stoltenberg said the
alliance would respond to the referendums with more aid to Kiev. “Our answer,
NATO’s answer, is to step up support,” Stoltenberg told CNN.
He continued, “The best way to end this war is to
strengthen the Ukrainians on the battlefield further so they can, at some
stage, sit down and reach a solution which is acceptable for Ukraine and that
preserves Ukraine as a sovereign, independent nation in Europe.”
Meanwhile, Medvedev believes Russia
absorbing the territory will be a transformative event. The Donbas joining
Russia would make the "geopolitical transformation of the world will
become irreversible," he said.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of
Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute,
and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario