Fake referendums: US threatens sanctions if annexed

The US wants to impose tougher sanctions if Russia annexes parts of Ukraine after a rigged referendum. This was announced by President Biden.

The United States has threatened further sanctions if it annexes the government in Moscow in light of the rigged referendum that began yesterday in the Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine. “Russia’s referendum is a travesty – a pretext for attempting to forcibly annex parts of Ukraine in flagrant violation of international law,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. “The United States will never recognize the territory of Ukraine as anything other than a part of Ukraine,” the statement said.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the US government is prepared to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia if Russia wants to annex more parts of Ukraine. President Biden said the United States is working with its allies and partners to ensure further “swift and tough” economic action against Russia.

Zelenskyj: The world will respond fairly to fake referendums

In his video message yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hoped the international community would respond appropriately to the so-called referendum. “The world will respond to fake referendums in an absolutely reasonable way – they will be condemned without a doubt,” Zelensky said. He spoke about crimes against Ukrainian law and international law.

Heads of State and Government of the Seven Leading Democratic Economies (G7) strongly condemned the rigged referendum in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. They served as a “false pretext” to change the status of a sovereign Ukrainian territory that fell victim to Russian aggression, they explained. “These actions are a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and international law,” it said.

A Russian connection is possible

Despite international protests, referendums on annexation with Russia began yesterday morning in four Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine, namely Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass and the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia. The “referendum” is scheduled to be held until Tuesday, after which Russia is expected to quickly annex the affected areas. As a result of “referendums” such annexation has been classified as illegal by the West.