KYIV, Ukraine —
The final day of voting was taking place in Russian-held regions of Ukraine on Tuesday in staged referendums with pre-ordained outcomes that are expected to serve as a pretext for annexation by Moscow.
Formal annexation of captured chunks of eastern Ukraine, possibly as soon as Friday, would set the stage for a dangerous new phase in the seven-month war, with Russia warning the West that it could resort to nuclear weapons to defend its own territory.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that, after the referendums, “the situation will radically change from the legal viewpoint, from the point of view of international law, with all the corresponding consequences for protection of those areas and ensuring their security.”
Faced with recent humiliating battlefield setbacks dealt by Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Russian President Vladimir Putin has since last week tried to raise the stakes by talking up Moscow’s nuclear option. The occupied territories’ referendums on joining Russia and a call-up of military reservists at home are also aimed at buttressing Moscow’s exposed position.
Western allies are standing firm with Ukraine. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Tuesday was the latest high-ranking foreign official to visit Kyiv, saying Paris was determined “to support Ukraine and its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, which is chaired by Putin, spelled out Moscow’s threats in the bluntest terms yet Tuesday.
“Let’s imagine that Russia is forced to use the most powerful weapon against the Ukrainian regime that has committed a large-scale act of aggression, which is dangerous for the very existence of our state,” Medvedev wrote on his messaging app channel. “I believe that NATO will steer clear from direct meddling in the conflict in that case.”
The U.S. has dismissed the Kremlin’s nuclear talk as scare tactics.
Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security advisor, said over the weekend that Russia would pay a high, if unspecified, price if Moscow made good on its threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
The Ukraine war continues to have worldwide consequences, including rising food and energy prices. The talk of nuclear war has only deepened global concern.
In Ukraine itself, some people in areas recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces have had no gas, electricity, running water or internet since March.
The war has brought an energy crunch for much of Western Europe, with German officials viewing the disruption of Russian supplies as a power play by the Kremlin to pressure Europe over its support for Ukraine.
The German economy ministry said Tuesday that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline leading from Russia to Europe has reported a drop in pressure, only hours after a leak was reported in the off Denmark. Both pipelines were built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe. Peskov said the problems were “very alarming” and would be investigated.