Biden denounces Kremlin's 'phony' move to annex Ukrainian territory
"We will rally the international community to both denounce these moves and to hold Russia accountable," Biden said. "I'm sure the federal assembly will support the laws of formation of the four new regions in Russia, four new subjects of the Russian federation," Vladimir Putin said in a speech Friday.
President Joe Biden on Friday strongly condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration that four provinces of Ukraine will become Russian territory based on referendums that took place this week.
“The United States condemns Russia’s fraudulent attempt today to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory,” Biden said in a statement. “Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter, and showing its contempt for peaceful nations everywhere.”
The Treasury Department announced on Friday a raft of new sanctions on top Russian officials, including members of Russia’s legislature and central bank officials, warning of severe financial consequences for anyone supporting the annexation attempt.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in addition to the “swift and severe costs” the U.S. is imposing on Russian officials and their family members, the State Department will also take action to impose visa restrictions on 910 individuals, including members of the Russian Federation military and Belarusian military officials.
“We will hold to account any individual, entity, or country that provides political or economic support for Russia’s illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory,” Blinken said in a statement.
Putin’s declaration marked the latest escalation in Russia’s seventh-month war in Ukraine, where its armed forces have suffered surprisingly heavy losses that have eroded Putin’s standing at home.
“I’m sure the federal assembly will support the laws of formation of the four new regions in Russia, four new subjects of the Russian federation,” Putin said in a speech Friday at the Kremlin. “Because this is the will of millions of people.”
During the ceremony, Putin said the four provinces — Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — will be folded into Russia and will be protected by “all available means.” They will join the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed after its more limited initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
The annexations represent a violation of international law, and the vast majority of nations won’t recognize the territory as Russian.
Putin also called on Kyiv for a ceasefire and to return to the table for negotiations, but he made sure to assert that the annexations would not be up for discussion.
“The choice of the people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, we will not discuss. It has been made. Russia will not betray it,” Putin said.
He largely used the rest of his speech to air conspiracies and accusations against the West, which he claimed is waging a “hybrid-war” against Russia.