US and allies oppose referendum plan to annex 4 Ukrainian regions to Russia

"Sham referendums are an affront to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that are the foundation of the international system," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on September 20.

The US comments came after officials in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south announced they would hold referendums on joining Russia on September 23-27.

“If this happens, the United States will never recognize Russia’s claim to any territory annexed from Ukraine,” Mr. Sullivan added.

Locals hoist the Russian national flag in the Stanitsa Luganskaya residential area, Lugansk Oblast, Ukraine on August 22. Photo:RIA Novosti.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the plan, warning that the move would further escalate the conflict. "Referendums are not legitimate and cannot change the nature of the war in Ukraine," Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.

Stoltenberg called on the international community to strongly condemn the "flagrant violation of international law" and increase support for Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the referendums a "sham" and should be rejected by the international community. "Clearly, sham referendums are unacceptable and are not protected by international law," Scholz said on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Polish President Andrzej Duda declared the referendums invalid and the country would never recognise the results.

Kiev has previously said the plan reflects Russia's "fear of failure" and insisted that "fake referendums" would not change anything. "Ukraine still considers Russia an illegal occupying state, and at the same time, Kiev has every right to liberate the territories and will continue to do so," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

The Ukrainian presidential spokesman said the referendums would destroy the chances of peace talks between Kiev and Moscow.

On the Russian side, the Chairman of the State Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin declared his support for the regions to join Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that this was a matter that depended on the wishes of the people in the Ukrainian regions. "From the very beginning, we have said that the people in those regions should decide their fate themselves," Mr. Lavrov said.

Hours before the four Ukrainian regions made their announcement, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, stressed that the referendum was necessary and that the results would not be reversed, regardless of who would lead Russia in the future. He also said that the move would allow Russia to use its military power to better “protect” these regions.