MOSCOW, September 30 – Novosti. British Foreign Minister James Cleverley said he had summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin to protest the annexation of new regions to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in the Kremlin on Friday following the results of referendums in the DPR , LPR , Kherson and Zaporozhye regions , after which he signed agreements on their admission to Russia.
“I have summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin to strongly protest Putin’s statement about the illegal annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory,” Cleverly wrote on Twitter.
Referendums on the issue of joining Russia were held from September 23 to 27 in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. According to the results of processing 100% of ballots in the DPR, 99.23% of those who voted for joining the Russian Federation, in the LPR – 98.42%, in the Kherson region – 87.05%, in the Zaporozhye region – 93.11%. The President of Russia said last week that Russia would support the decision, which will be made by the residents of Donbass , Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
The public addressed the regional authorities with the initiative to immediately hold referendums. According to representatives of the republics and regions, joining Russia will secure their territories and restore historical justice. In their opinion, this decision is extremely necessary in the context of constant acts of terror by the nationalist authorities of Ukraine and NATO members , who supply weapons to kill civilians.
The referendums were held against the backdrop of sanctions pressure and Western statements about the need for a negotiation process between Moscow and Kiev . Many countries have declared that they do not recognize the results of the vote. Russia, in response to the UN Security Council , stated that by not recognizing the referenda, the West is showing double standards.
Putin has previously stressed that the referendums were held in a transparent manner, in full compliance with the norms and principles of international law. The inhabitants of these regions exercised their right to self-determination in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter , the international pacts on human rights of 1966 and the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the President of the Russian Federation said.
