Topline
As Russia continues to hold referendums across occupied territories of Ukraine asking residents to vote to join Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that the annexation of Ukraine would mean the end of any diplomatic negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on at a press conference at Maryinsky Palace on March … [+]
Key Facts
The referendum could “lead to very tragic moments,” Zelensky said Sunday during an interview on CBS’ Face The Nation, saying Russians have threatened people with shutting off their electricity and throwing them with prison in order to force them to take part in what Zelensky called the “pseudo-referenda.”
Zelensky said “a very low percentage” of people support the referendum, even among those forced to take part in the vote.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Face the Nation that Putin’s move to hold a referendum is a sign they’re “struggling badly,” adding that the U.S. will not recognize the “sham referenda” that “in no way represents the will of the Ukrainian people.”
Key Background
Authorities installed by Russia on Friday began holding referendums across the four occupied regions of Ukraine–Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk–in a move that has received international condemnation. The ballots ask whether voters want to secede from Ukraine to create an independent state that will enter the Russian Federation. Ukrainian and Western officials say the results will likely be heavily rigged in favor of joining Russia. Serhiy Gaidai, the exiled Ukrainian governor of the Luhansk region, alleged authorities have gone door-to-door forcing Ukranians to vote under gunpoint and threatening job loss and arrest. Voting will last until Tuesday.
What To Watch For
Putin last week implied he would be willing to use nuclear weapons to protect the “territorial integrity” of Russia. His comments raised fears that if Putin uses the referendum results to justify an annexation, Russia would threaten severe retaliation in response to any Ukrainian efforts to recapture the four territories.
Big Number
$15 billion. That’s how much the U.S. has provided to Ukraine’s defense against Russia, Sullivan said Sunday, in the form of weapons like air defense systems and artillery. “Nothing that Russia has done with this mobilization of troops, with the sham referenda in the occupied regions, is going to deter us from providing Ukraine with the necessary means and technologies they need to defend themselves,” Sullivan said.
Further Reading
Russia’s Contrived Voting Begins In Occupied Ukrainian Territories: Here’s What You Need To Know (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/09/25/russias-annexation-of-ukrainian-regions-would-sever-diplomatic-negotiations-with-putin-zelensky-says/