Linda Thomas-Greenfield considers referendums on the entry of Kherson, Zaporizhia and other regions of Ukraine into Russia "creating the appearance of legality and public support"UN, September 8.
/tass/. The United States will never recognize changes in the borders of Ukraine with the use of force. This was stated on Wednesday at a meeting of the UN Security Council by the Permanent representative of the United States to the World Organization Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The American permanent representative claimed that the Russian Federation is preparing to hold referendums on the entry of the regions of Ukraine under Russian control into the Russian Federation. "These referendums are designed to create the appearance of legality and public support so that Russia has the opportunity to annex the Kherson, Zaporozhye and other regions of Ukraine," Thomas-Greenfield said.
"Of course, we will never recognize Russia's attempts to change Ukraine's borders by force," the US ambassador to the UN said.
Secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party Andrei Turchak said earlier that he believes it is right to hold a vote on the entry of Donbass and the liberated territories of Ukraine into Russia on National Unity Day, November 4. According to the results of a study by the Institute of Social Marketing (INSOMAR), published on Wednesday, the majority of the surveyed residents of the liberated territories of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions want to see their regions as part of Russia.
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Washington categorically rejected the interpretation of what is happening within the framework of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine proposed by the American administration. As stated in the statement published by the embassy, Russia returns "peace to the liberated territories", and also creates "conditions for normal life and respect for equal rights of citizens regardless of ethnicity and language." The embassy stressed that the leadership of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the population of these territories will make a thorough decision about their future.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. After that, the United States, the EU, the United Kingdom, as well as a number of other states imposed sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities. In addition, Western countries have begun to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev for amounts estimated at this stage in billions of dollars.
