Putin’s land grab sees war enter a dangerous phase
WESTERN leaders are accusing Russia of ‘‘nuclear sabre-rattling’’ and violating international law after President Vladimir Putin confirmed the annexation of 15% of Ukraine’s territory.
In a Kremlin ceremony, Putin announced that Russia was subsuming four eastern Ukrainian regions in an escalation of the war that increases the chance of a direct clash with the West.
In perhaps the most hostile speech of his two decades in power, Putin railed against what he called Western neo-colonialism and moral bankruptcy, and confirmed that Russia would absorb the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, and the selfstyled Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics.
It is the largest military annexation since World War II.
The Kremlin has promised to protect the new territory with nuclear weapons if necessary. In response, Nato SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg said the bloc’s support for Ukraine remained ‘‘unwavering’’ despite the ‘‘land grab’’, and that Ukraine retained the right to retake its territories.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the annexation a ‘‘serious violation of international law and of Ukraine’s sovereignty’’.
Britain expressed strong disapproval, and United States President Joe President Biden promised that the US would ‘‘continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to regain control of its territory’’.
The escalation opens a dangerous phase of the war while
Kyiv’s forces go on the offensive in the annexed regions, which Russia does not fully control. They are advancing on the occupied city of Lyman, Russia’s main garrison town in the north of Donetsk region.
Moscow says any attempt by Ukraine to reclaim the territories will be interpreted as an attack on the Russian Federation itself, warranting retaliation – including the use of nuclear weapons.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the annexations by saying that Ukraine would ask Nato to fasttrack its accession to the bloc.
In the four Ukrainian territories, sham referendums were held this past week that ostensibly found huge majorities in favour of annexation.
Russia yesterday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have condemned its referendums as illegal, declared them invalid, and urged all countries not to recognise any annexation of the territory claimed by Moscow.
The vote in the 15-member council was 10-1, with China, India, Brazil and Gabon abstaining.
Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia defended the referendums, claiming that more than 100 election observers from Italy, Germany, Venezuela and Latvia had recognised the results as legitimate.
Under a resolution adopted earlier this year, Russia must defend its veto before the UN General Assembly in the coming weeks.