IRIA News

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is submitting an “accelerated” application to join the NATO transatlantic military alliance.

Zelenskyy’s comments came in response to Russia’s move to annex four Ukrainian regions – Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. The world leaders including resident Biden, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have condemned “the illegal annexation” of the four regions.

“We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO,” Zelenskyy said. It is not immediately clear what an “accelerated” application would mean, as ascension to NATO requires the unanimous approval of all 30 of the alliance’s member states.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has confirmed that Kyiv submitted a formal fast-track NATO membership application.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said all NATO members must jointly take the decision on Ukraine’s request. “NATO is not party to the conflict,” Stoltenberg said, adding that “a decision on [Ukraine’s] membership has to be taken by all 30 allies by consensus.” He called Russia’s announcement to annex Ukrainian territory the most serious escalation of the conflict since Moscow invaded its neighbor in February.

Putin signs documents to annex Ukrainian regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday presided over a ceremony at the Kremlin to annex four Ukrainian regions partly occupied by his forces, laying claim to some 40,000 square miles of land or about one-seventh of all Ukrainian territory. Putin signed the formal annexation documents alongside the Moscow-appointed leaders of the four Ukrainian territories being seized by Russia.

“I want the Kyiv authorities and their real masters in the West to hear me so that they remember this. People living in Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia have become our citizens. Once and for all,” Putin said in his speech.

On the possibility of peace talks, Putin said: “We call on Kyiv to immediately cease fire, end all hostilities, to stop the war that it had unleashed back in 2014, and to return to the negotiating table.” However, Moscow “will not discuss the choice of the people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. That has been made. Russia will not betray them.”

U.S., UK slap additional sanctions on Russia

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia after Russian proclaimed the biggest annexation of Europe since World War II. The White House said that the United States, together with our allies and partners is imposing new sanctions on individuals and entities inside and outside of Russia.

“We will rally the international community to both denounce these moves and to hold Russia accountable. We will continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment it needs to defend itself, undeterred by Russia’s brazen effort to redraw the borders of its neighbor,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement. Biden added that will be signing legislation to provide an additional $12 billion to support Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss condemned the move by Putin, saying Britain will never accept his claim to the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia and that it amounts to a “violation of international law”.

The United Kingdom has imposed new sanctions on Russia including measures directly targeting the governor of its Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina. The UK had also imposed new services and goods export bans that are targeted at “vulnerable sectors of the Russian economy”. Britain is also banning the export of nearly 700 goods crucial to Russia’s industrial and technological sectors. Under the new sanctions, Russia will lose access to primary western services that Russia depends on, including IT consultancy, architectural services, engineering services, and transactional legal advisory services for certain commercial activities in the UK.

Europe condemns Russian move

The president of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, has condemned Russia’s “illegal” annexation move, saying it “won’t change anything”.

“All territories illegally occupied by Russian invaders are Ukrainian land and will always be part of this sovereign nation,” Ursula von der Leyen said.

The European Council has “unequivocally” condemned Russia’s “illegal” annexation of the four regions. “By wilfully undermining the rules-based international order and blatantly violating the fundamental rights of Ukraine to independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, core principles as enshrined in the UN Charter and international law, Russia is putting global security at risk,” the council said in a statement. We will never recognize this illegal annexation. These decisions are null and void and cannot produce any legal effect whatsoever,” it added. EU said that the bloc will continue to provide strong economic, military, social, and financial support to Ukraine.

Poland and Greece have issued strong statements condemning Russia’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said the “Netherlands will never recognize this annexation, just as we don’t recognize the annexation of Crimea.” 

Sweden’s government also denounced the action. “It’s nothing but a complete farce,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said, adding “We condemn the illegal annexation in the strongest terms.”

Giorgio Meloni, who is widely expected to become Italy’s prime minister next month, said in a statement that Putin’s move to annex four Ukrainian regions has “no legal and political value.”

G7 ministers threaten economic costs on Russia

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have condemned Russia’s proclaimed annexation and warned of further economic costs. “We will impose further economic costs on Russia, and on individuals and entities – inside and outside of Russia – that provide political or economic support to these violations of international law,” the official statement said..

“We will never recognize these purported annexations, nor the sham ‘referenda’ conducted at gunpoint,” reads a joint statement by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and the EU.