Russian annexation vote ‘not a referendum’

International

-DW News

Moscow,
Sep
24:
Former
Ukrainian
President
Petro
Poroshenko
dismissed
what
Moscow
has
called
“referendums”
in
occupied
Ukrainian
territory
as
a
“Russian
trick,”
orchestrated
by
the
Kremlin
as
a
way
to
“legitimize”
the
presence
of
Russian
troops.

“This
is
definitely
not
a
referendum
…
It’s
impossible
to
organize
a
referendum
like
that
within
48
hours,”
Poroshenko
told
DW.

Poroshenko,
one
of
Ukraine’s
wealthiest
businessmen,
is
the
leader
of
the
conservative
European
Solidarity
party,
and
was
Ukraine’s
president
between
2014
and
2019.

The
Moscow-backed
votes
are
being
held
in
the
regions
of
Kherson
and
Zaporizhzhia
in
the
south
and
southeast,
and
in
the
Luhansk
and
Donetsk
regions
that
make
up
Ukraine’s
eastern
Donbas.
The
regions
of
Donetsk
and
Zaporizhzhia
are
only
partially
under
Russian
occupation.

Russia
reacts
to
PM
Modi’s
‘not
an
era
of
war
remark
to
Putin

The
Russia-backed
“referendums”
come
as
Ukrainian
forces
have
made
considerable
gains
in
eastern
Ukraine,
recapturing
wide
swathes
of
territory.

The
self-declared
“peoples
republics”
of
Donetsk
and
Luhansk
have
been
occupied
by
Moscow’s
proxies
since
2015,
but
until
now
have
stopped
short
of
formally
trying
to
join
the
Russian
Federation.

Russia
annexed
the
Crimean
Peninsula
in
2014
following
a
referendum
that
lacked
international
recognition
and
which
Kyiv
considers
illegitimate.

Poroshenko
said
he
was
confident
that
Ukraine’s
constitutional
court
would
rule
the
referendum
unconstitutional,
just
as
was
the
case
under
his
presidency,
when
Russia
organized
a
vote
on
the
annexation
of
Crimea.

‘Nuclear
blackmail’

The
former
Ukrainian
leader
also
warned
that
Moscow
could
use
the
so-called
referendums
to
justify
launching
an
attack,
including
a
nuclear
attack,
from
annexed
territories.

When
asked
about
the
likelihood
of
Moscow
launching
a
nuclear
strike,
Poroshenko
called
Putin
a
“crazy
maniac,”
who
uses
various
forms
of
blackmail,
including
“nuclear
attack
blackmail.”

Poroshenko
stressed
that
Kyiv
gave
up
its
“nuclear
arsenal”
in
exchange
for
security
assurances,
referring
to
the
1994
Budapest
Memorandum.

At
UNSC,
US
calls
on
world
to
tell
Russia
to
stop
its
nuclear
threats

Kyiv
handed
over
Soviet-era
nuclear
weapons
to
Moscow
and
joined
the
Treaty
on
the
Non-Proliferation
of
Nuclear
Weapons
in
light
of
the
memorandum,
which
was
signed
by
Russia,
the
United
States
and
the
United
Kingdom.

However,
Poroshenko
argued
that
Putin
would
not
use
nuclear
weapons
if
Western
states
committed
to
a
“severe”
response
to
any
attack.

He
called
for
a
joint
declaration
by
nuclear
powers
that
there
would
be
a
“quick
and
decisive
reaction”
to
a
Russian
nuclear
strike.

Poroshenko
urged
the
world
not
to
be
“afraid”
of
Putin.
“If
you
are
weak,
Putin
[will]
go
as
far
as
we
…
allow
him
to
go,”
he
said.

“Don’t
trust
Putin,”
he
said,
claiming
that
Russia’s
president
will
“never
keep
his
word.”

More
military
help
from
Germany

Referring
to
the
German
Bundestag’s
decision
not
to
supply
Kyiv
with
battle
tanks,
Poroshenko
said
that
he
was
“disappointed”
in
Berlin.

“The
more
weapons,
the
more
ammunition
you
supply,
the
shorter
the
way
to
peace,”
Poroshenko
said,
asking
Germans
to
provide
Ukraine
with
additional
military
support.

Poroshenko
added
that
Kyiv
“definitely”
needs
German
tanks
and
ammunition
given
the
current
situation
in
Ukraine,
but
does
not
need
German
soldiers.
“Help
us
save
you,
help
us
save
Europe,”
he
pleaded.

By
supporting
Kyiv,
German
is
“investing
in
[its]
own
security,”
Poroshenko
said.

Source: DW