Countries around the world have rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to annex some Ukrainian territories through Kremlin-organized pseudo-referendums in four regions of Ukraine.

“The United States recognizes and does not recognize will never realize* none of the Kremlin’s claims of sovereignty over the parts of Ukraine it seized by force and which it now claims to incorporate into Russia,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on September 30.

This new illegal attempt by Moscow to forcibly change Ukraine’s borders has provoked a strong international reaction.

Punish: On September 30th, the United States*, their allies, including the United Kingdom*, and its partners have announced additional sanctions and visa restrictions aimed at:

• Russian government officials and some of their relatives;
• Russian and Belarusian military;
• Arms supply networks, particularly against international suppliers supporting the Russian military-industrial apparatus.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the Kremlin-sponsored referenda on accession to Russia ” Attempted illegal land grab*”, adding that the European Union will propose new import bans on Russian products to its 27 member countries.

Conviction: For NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Russia’s actions are the “biggest attempt to forcibly annex European territories since the Second World War”.

The presidents of nine NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe said on October 2 that they could not remain silent in the face of this. flagrant violation of international law*”. The leaders of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, North Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia stressed that they would never recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory.

On September 23, the first day of sham elections in the occupied territories, the leaders of the Group of Seven’s main industrial democracies also gave their approval would never realize* Referenda or annexations, Reuters reported. The Group of Seven includes France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union.

“A referendum at gunpoint”

without surprise Russian state media* reported on September 27 that people in areas under Russian control had voted overwhelmingly to join Russia in referendums that ended the same day.

Because of the falsified results, the Kremlin announced that voters in the occupied territories wanted to join Russia and therefore annexed the four territories.

But the referenda were anything but free and fair. Russia had arranged for the elections to be monitored by Putin loyalists, and Ukrainian civilians were forced to vote under the supervision of armed guards.

Ukrainian officials told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that residents had been banned from leaving certain occupied territories until the end of the four-day vote. Armed groups went door to door* Force people to vote. And employees who didn’t vote were threatened.

These elections concerned the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, which correspond to the Donbass region, and the provinces of Kherson and Zaporijia in eastern Ukraine

Similar fraudulent elections were organized in 2014 after the Kremlin invasion and subsequent occupation of Crimea.

In his Sept. 30 speech, Putin said Russia now has four new regions. “The residents of Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia will forever be our citizens,” he said.

Before the election, a resident of Cherson had denounced this “referendum at gunpoint”.

America and its allies “are not going be intimidated* by Putin and his reckless words and threats,” Joe Biden told reporters Sept. 30. Putin “can’t take over his neighbor’s territory and get away with it.”

*in English