UN, September 30 – Novosti. Russia in the UN Security Council vetoed a draft resolution by the United States and Albania on the non-recognition of referendums in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, a Novosti correspondent reported.
The text condemned “the organization by Russia of illegal so-called referendums in the regions of Ukraine , within the internationally recognized borders.” It was also noted that Moscow ‘s actions cannot form the basis for changing the status of the four regions.
The authors called on all countries, international organizations and specialized structures not to recognize the change in the status of the “Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine”, as well as their accession to Russia. In addition, Moscow was required to immediately withdraw its military forces from Ukraine.
As Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated , some of the Council’s colleagues in this situation violated decorum and hit rock bottom. According to him, they tried to adopt a resolution directly condemning a member of the Security Council, although no one has ever succeeded in doing so.
Earlier, Nebenzya said that the West, not recognizing the referendums on joining Russia, is showing double standards, and recalled the situation with the self-proclaimed Kosovo . There are other examples in history of the recognition by the West of the separation and annexation of territories without the consent of the states to which they belonged. In particular, Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836 and then became part of the United States ; in 1990 and 1991, Slovenia and Croatia held referendums on independence from Yugoslavia without the consent of its authorities and were recognized.
In 1991, referendums on independence from the USSR were held in Estonia , Ukraine, Georgia , Moldova , Turkmenistan , Armenia and Azerbaijan – against the will of the Soviet leadership and the entire people, who at the all-Union referendum spoke in favor of preserving the Union. In turn, during the unification of the FRG and the GDR, no one asked the opinion of the population at all – the absorption of East Germany by West passed without a vote.
At the same time, the results of referendums within the Western countries themselves are ignored. In 2017, 90 percent of the inhabitants of the autonomy voted for the separation of Catalonia from Spain , after which Madrid began large-scale repressions against supporters of independence. At the end of 2017, residents of the Italian regions of Veneto and Lombardy demanded greater autonomy from Rome in referenda , but the process of granting new powers from the central authorities stalled.
Earlier, in the St. George’s Hall of the Kremlin, a ceremony was held to sign agreements on the admission of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics , Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia . The documents were signed by Vladimir Putin and the heads of regions: Denis Pushilin , Leonid Pasechnik , Evgeny Balitsky and Vladimir Saldo .
Referendums on joining Russia were held in four regions from 23 to 27 September. In the DPR , this proposal was supported by 99.23 percent of the voters, in the LPR – 98.42 percent, in the Kherson region – 87.05 percent, in the Zaporozhye region – 93.11 percent.
