Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that areas of Ukraine where heavily criticized referendums are being held would be under Russia’s “complete protection” if annexed by Moscow. Russia has attempted to defend its seven-month-old conflict before the UN.
On Sunday, the third day of the referendums in four eastern Ukrainian regions to formally annex territory that Russia has occupied since its invasion in February, began. The Russian parliament may soon take action to formalize the annexation.
The referendums have been denounced by Ukraine and its Western supporters as a ruse orchestrated by Moscow to justify escalating the conflict and launching a mobilization effort in response to recent fighting losses.
Wednesday saw the first military mobilization in Russia since World War Two, which sparked nationwide protests, drove thousands of men of military age from their homes, backed up traffic at the borders, and sold out flights out of the country.
On Sunday, Russia’s two most senior MPs responded to a number of concerns over the mobilization by directing local officials to quickly resolve the “excesses” that have incited the public’s ire.
In his Saturday speech to the UN General Assembly and the international media in New York, Lavrov repeated Moscow’s bogus allegations that the elected government in Kyiv was illegally installed and populated by neo-Nazis in an effort to defend Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
He claimed that only the United States and nations under its control opposed what Russia termed a “special operation.”
In the assembly, about 75 percent of the states voted to censure Russia and demand that it withdraw its soldiers.
Following his address, Lavrov said in a news conference that if Russia annexes certain regions, they will be under the “full protection” of Moscow.
