(MENAFN) After four Ukrainian regions decisively voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declares his country will have nothing to discuss with Russia.
Over the last five days, referendums have been held in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the southern province of Kherson and the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia.
According to Reuters, regional leaders there indicated significant majorities voted in support of merger into Russia.
The plebiscites were reminiscent of a similar poll held in 2014, when Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula decided to join Russia.
Officials claim that 99.23 percent of voters in Donetsk, 98.42 percent in Luhansk, 87.05 percent in Kherson, and roughly 93 percent in Zaporizhzhia approved of their territories' merger into Russia.
Kiev and its Western backers, on the other hand, call the elections a "sham."
"Russia's recognition of the pseudo-referendums as 'normal', implementation of the so-called Crimean scenario, and yet another attempt to annex Ukrainian territory means that there is nothing to talk about with [the] current Russian president," Zelensky alleged amid a video message at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
"In front of the eyes of the whole world, Russia is conducting an outright farce called a 'referendum' on the occupied territory of Ukraine," he asserted.
MENAFN28092022000045011137ID1104937982
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.