SOPHIA ANKEL
September 30, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin signs annexation documents in Moscow, Russia, on September 30, 2022. Sky News
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees to annex four Ukrainian regions on Friday, saying that they are now part of Russia in a move that Ukraine and Western nations say they will not recognize.
In a speech in Moscow, Putin said that people in the four territories — Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk — "will become Russian citizens forever," the BBC reported.
"The people have made their choice ... this is the will of millions," he said, according to the BBC. He said that the citizens of those regions have a "love for Russia."
Putin called the annexation is non-negotiable and permanent.
He accused the West of trying to "rob" Russia and turn its people into a "crowd of voiceless slaves," the BBC reported.
But he also hinted at being open to peace talks with Ukraine, almost eight months after he first ordered an invasion into the country. A peace deal that sees Russia keep those regions is likely to be opposed by Ukraine.
Putin then signed the annexations into law after his speech.
Those regions make up around 15% of Ukraine's remaining territory, Reuters reported. That calculation does not include the large Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 and still controls now.
It is not clear if Russia is claiming 100% of all of the four regions, as some of them are not entirely under Russia control, and Ukraine is fighting and making territory gains in some of them.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that attacks on the areas that Putin annexes would be considered an attack on Russia, The Guardian reported — which means Putin's move could result in a rapid ramping up of the war.
Putin's move has been rejected by the West.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted on Friday: "The illegal annexation proclaimed by Putin won't change anything. All territories illegally occupied by Russian invaders are Ukrainian land and will always be part of this sovereign nation."
Fake referendums
The ceremony comes after Russia held fake referendums in the regions over the past week to claim a mandate for the territories.
Earlier this week, pro-Moscow officials claimed that all four occupied areas of Ukraine had voted to join Russia.
They said 93% of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, while 87% voted in favor in the Kherson region, 98% in the Luhansk region, and 99% in Donetsk, the Associated Press reported.
But the so-called votes have been widely condemned by Ukraine, Russia's neighboring countries, and the West as a sham.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told Insider on Friday that his country will not recognize what he called the "illegal annexation."
"Estonia and the free world will not recognize this criminal act, this shame," Reinsalu said.
President Joe Biden said in a statement on Friday: "The United States, I want to be very clear about this, will never, never, never recognize Russia's claims on Ukraine sovereign territory," according to the BBC.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss also said the UK would never accept the referendum results and accused Putin of violating international law.
"Putin cannot be allowed to alter international borders using brute force. We will ensure he loses this illegal war," Truss said in a statement on Friday, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also warned that his country would react in a "very harsh" way if Russia went ahead with the annexations.
"They [the votes] are worthless and do not change reality," he said in a statement, as per Reuters. "The territorial integrity of Ukraine will be restored. And our reaction to the recognition of the results by Russia will be very harsh."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the referendums last week as a "sham" and "further escalation in Putin's war."
