Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties Friday to illegally annex extra occupied Ukrainian territory in a pointy escalation of his seven-month invasion. Ukraine’s president instantly countered with a shock software to affix the NATO navy alliance.Putin’s land-grab and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s signing of what he stated is an “accelerated” NATO membership software despatched the 2 leaders rushing even quicker on a collision course that’s cranking up fears of a full-blown battle between Russia and the West.Putin vowed to guard newly annexed areas of Ukraine by “all available means,” a nuclear-backed risk at a Kremlin signing ceremony the place he additionally railed furiously on the West, accusing the United States and its allies of in search of Russia’s destruction.Zelenskyy then held a signing ceremony of his personal in Kyiv, releasing video of him placing pen to papers that he stated had been a proper NATO membership request. He known as the transfer “our decisive step.”Putin has repeatedly made clear that any prospect of Ukraine becoming a member of the world’s largest navy alliance is one of his purple strains and it was among the many justifications he has cited for his invasion — the largest land conflict in Europe since World War II.In his speech, Putin urged Ukraine to sit down down for peace talks however instantly insisted he will not talk about handing again occupied areas. Zelenskyy stated there’d be no negotiations with Putin.”We are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but … with another president of Russia,” he stated.In his signing ceremony within the Kremlin’s ornate St. George’s Hall, Putin accused the West of fueling the hostilities as half of what he stated is a plan to show Russia right into a “colony” and a “crowds of slaves.” The hardening of his place, within the battle that has killed and wounded tens of hundreds of folks, additional cranked up tensions, already at ranges unseen for the reason that Cold War.The U.S. introduced sanctions for greater than 1,000 folks and corporations related to Russia’s invasion, together with its Central Bank governor.Of Putin’s annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas, President Joe Biden stated: “Make no mistake: These actions have no legitimacy.”NATO and the European Union additionally rejected the annexation as unlawful. The EU’s 27 member states stated they may by no means acknowledge the unlawful referendums that Russia organized “as a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg known as it “the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War.”Zelenskyy vowed to maintain combating, defying Putin’s warnings that Ukraine should not attempt to take again what it has misplaced.”The entire territory of our country will be liberated from this enemy,” the Ukrainian chief stated. “Russia already knows this. It feels our power.”The speedy ramifications of the “accelerated” NATO software weren’t instantly clear, because it requires the unanimous assist of all members. The provide of Western weapons to Ukraine has, nonetheless, put it nearer to the alliance’s orbit.”De facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards,” Zelenskyy stated. “We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. This is the alliance.”Putin’s Kremlin ceremony got here three days after the completion in occupied areas of Moscow-orchestrated “referendums” on becoming a member of Russia that had been dismissed by Kyiv and the West as a bare-faced land seize held at gunpoint and based mostly on lies.In his fiery speech on the ceremony, he insisted that Ukraine should deal with the Kremlin-managed votes “with respect.”After the signing ceremony of treaties to affix Russia, Moscow-installed leaders of the occupied areas gathered round Putin they usually all linked arms, becoming a member of chants of “Russia! Russia!” with the viewers.Putin, nonetheless, lower an offended determine as he accused the United States and its allies of in search of to destroy Russia. He stated the West acted “as a parasite” and used its monetary and technological power “to rob the entire world.”He portrayed Russia as being on a historic mission to reclaim its post-Soviet nice energy standing and counter Western domination that he stated is collapsing.”History has called us to a battlefield to fight for our people, for the grand historic Russia, for future generations,” he stated.The separatist Donetsk and Luhansk areas in japanese Ukraine have been backed by Moscow since declaring independence in 2014, weeks after the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. The southern Kherson area and half of neighboring Zaporizhzhia had been captured by Russia quickly after Putin despatched troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.Both homes of the Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament will meet subsequent week to rubber-stamp the treaties for the areas to affix Russia, sending them to Putin for his approval.Putin and his lieutenants have bluntly warned Ukraine towards urgent an offensive to reclaim the areas, saying Russia would view it as an act of aggression – threats that Moscow can again up with the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear warheads.The unlawful annexation was an try by Putin to keep away from extra defeats on the battlefields that would threaten his 22-year rule. By formalizing Russia’s positive aspects, a minimum of on paper, Putin seemingly hopes to scare Ukraine and its Western backers with the prospect of an more and more escalatory battle except they again down — which they present no indicators of doing.Russia controls most of the Luhansk and Kherson areas, about 60% of the Donetsk area and a big chunk of the Zaporizhzhia area the place it took management of Europe’s largest nuclear energy plant.But the Kremlin is on the verge of one other stinging battlefield loss, with reviews of the upcoming Ukrainian encirclement of the japanese metropolis of Lyman. Retaking it may open the trail for Ukraine to push deep into Luhansk, one of the areas Russia is absorbing.”It looks quite pathetic. Ukrainians are doing something, taking steps in the real material world, while the Kremlin is building some kind of virtual reality, incapable of responding in the real world,” former Kremlin speechwriter turned political analyst Abbas Gallyamov stated.”People understand that the politics is now on the battlefield,” he added. “What’s important is who advances and who retreats. In that sense, the Kremlin cannot offer anything сomforting to the Russians.”Russia pounded Ukrainian cities with missiles, rockets, and suicide drones, with one strike reported having killed 25 folks and wounded 50, the overall prosecutor’s workplace. The salvos collectively amounted to Moscow’s heaviest barrage in weeks.The strike left deep craters and despatched shrapnel tearing by way of the humanitarian convoy, killing their passengers. Nearby buildings had been demolished. Trash luggage, blankets and, for one sufferer, a blood-soaked towel, lined the our bodies.Analysts have warned that Putin was more likely to dip extra closely into his dwindling shares of precision weapons and step up assaults as half of a technique to escalate the conflict and shatter Western assist.A Ukrainian counteroffensive has disadvantaged Moscow of mastery on the battlefield. Its maintain of the Luhansk area seems more and more shaky, as Ukrainian forces make inroads there, with the pincer assault on Lyman. Ukraine additionally nonetheless has a big foothold within the neighboring Donetsk area.In the Zaporizhzhia area’s capital, anti-aircraft missiles that Russia has repurposed as ground-attack weapons rained down on folks ready in automobiles to cross into Russian-occupied territory so they might carry relations again throughout entrance strains, stated Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential workplace.Russian-installed officers in Zaporizhzhia blamed Ukrainian forces, however gave no proof.Russian strikes had been additionally reported within the metropolis of Dnipro. Regional Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko stated a minimum of one individual was killed and 5 had been wounded.Ukraine’s air pressure stated the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa had been focused with Iranian-supplied suicide drones that Russia has more and more deployed, seemingly to keep away from shedding extra pilots who do not have management of Ukraine’s skies.Ukraine has vowed to retake all occupied territory and Russia has pledged to defend its positive aspects, threatening nuclear-weapon use and mobilizing an extra 300,000 troops regardless of protests.That was underscored by the combating for Lyman, a key node for Russian navy operations within the Donbas and a sought-after prize within the Ukrainian counteroffensive.The Russian-backed separatist chief of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, stated town is “half-encircled” by Ukrainian forces. The Russian state information company RIA Novosti quoted him as calling the setback “worrying news.””Ukraine’s armed formations,” he stated, “are trying very hard to spoil our celebration.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties Friday to illegally annex extra occupied Ukrainian territory in a pointy escalation of his seven-month invasion. Ukraine’s president instantly countered with a shock software to affix the NATO navy alliance.
Putin’s land-grab and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s signing of what he stated is an “accelerated” NATO membership software despatched the 2 leaders rushing even quicker on a collision course that’s cranking up fears of a full-blown battle between Russia and the West.
Putin vowed to guard newly annexed areas of Ukraine by “all available means,” a nuclear-backed risk at a Kremlin signing ceremony the place he additionally railed furiously on the West, accusing the United States and its allies of in search of Russia’s destruction.
Zelenskyy then held a signing ceremony of his personal in Kyiv, releasing video of him placing pen to papers that he stated had been a proper NATO membership request. He known as the transfer “our decisive step.”
Putin has repeatedly made clear that any prospect of Ukraine becoming a member of the world’s largest navy alliance is one of his purple strains and it was among the many justifications he has cited for his invasion — the largest land conflict in Europe since World War II.
In his speech, Putin urged Ukraine to sit down down for peace talks however instantly insisted he will not talk about handing again occupied areas. Zelenskyy stated there’d be no negotiations with Putin.
“We are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but … with another president of Russia,” he stated.
In his signing ceremony within the Kremlin’s ornate St. George’s Hall, Putin accused the West of fueling the hostilities as half of what he stated is a plan to show Russia right into a “colony” and a “crowds of slaves.” The hardening of his place, within the battle that has killed and wounded tens of hundreds of folks, additional cranked up tensions, already at ranges unseen for the reason that Cold War.
The U.S. introduced sanctions for greater than 1,000 folks and corporations related to Russia’s invasion, together with its Central Bank governor.
Of Putin’s annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas, President Joe Biden stated: “Make no mistake: These actions have no legitimacy.”
NATO and the European Union additionally rejected the annexation as unlawful. The EU’s 27 member states stated they may by no means acknowledge the unlawful referendums that Russia organized “as a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg known as it “the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War.”
Zelenskyy vowed to maintain combating, defying Putin’s warnings that Ukraine should not attempt to take again what it has misplaced.
“The entire territory of our country will be liberated from this enemy,” the Ukrainian chief stated. “Russia already knows this. It feels our power.”
The speedy ramifications of the “accelerated” NATO software weren’t instantly clear, because it requires the unanimous assist of all members. The provide of Western weapons to Ukraine has, nonetheless, put it nearer to the alliance’s orbit.
“De facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards,” Zelenskyy stated. “We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. This is the alliance.”
Putin’s Kremlin ceremony got here three days after the completion in occupied areas of Moscow-orchestrated “referendums” on becoming a member of Russia that had been dismissed by Kyiv and the West as a bare-faced land seize held at gunpoint and based mostly on lies.
In his fiery speech on the ceremony, he insisted that Ukraine should deal with the Kremlin-managed votes “with respect.”
After the signing ceremony of treaties to affix Russia, Moscow-installed leaders of the occupied areas gathered round Putin they usually all linked arms, becoming a member of chants of “Russia! Russia!” with the viewers.
Putin, nonetheless, lower an offended determine as he accused the United States and its allies of in search of to destroy Russia. He stated the West acted “as a parasite” and used its monetary and technological power “to rob the entire world.”
He portrayed Russia as being on a historic mission to reclaim its post-Soviet nice energy standing and counter Western domination that he stated is collapsing.
“History has called us to a battlefield to fight for our people, for the grand historic Russia, for future generations,” he stated.
The separatist Donetsk and Luhansk areas in japanese Ukraine have been backed by Moscow since declaring independence in 2014, weeks after the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. The southern Kherson area and half of neighboring Zaporizhzhia had been captured by Russia quickly after Putin despatched troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Both homes of the Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament will meet subsequent week to rubber-stamp the treaties for the areas to affix Russia, sending them to Putin for his approval.
Putin and his lieutenants have bluntly warned Ukraine towards urgent an offensive to reclaim the areas, saying Russia would view it as an act of aggression – threats that Moscow can again up with the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear warheads.
The unlawful annexation was an try by Putin to keep away from extra defeats on the battlefields that would threaten his 22-year rule. By formalizing Russia’s positive aspects, a minimum of on paper, Putin seemingly hopes to scare Ukraine and its Western backers with the prospect of an more and more escalatory battle except they again down — which they present no indicators of doing.
Russia controls most of the Luhansk and Kherson areas, about 60% of the Donetsk area and a big chunk of the Zaporizhzhia area the place it took management of Europe’s largest nuclear energy plant.
But the Kremlin is on the verge of one other stinging battlefield loss, with reviews of the upcoming Ukrainian encirclement of the japanese metropolis of Lyman. Retaking it may open the trail for Ukraine to push deep into Luhansk, one of the areas Russia is absorbing.
“It looks quite pathetic. Ukrainians are doing something, taking steps in the real material world, while the Kremlin is building some kind of virtual reality, incapable of responding in the real world,” former Kremlin speechwriter turned political analyst Abbas Gallyamov stated.
“People understand that the politics is now on the battlefield,” he added. “What’s important is who advances and who retreats. In that sense, the Kremlin cannot offer anything сomforting to the Russians.”
Russia pounded Ukrainian cities with missiles, rockets, and suicide drones, with one strike reported having killed 25 folks and wounded 50, the overall prosecutor’s workplace. The salvos collectively amounted to Moscow’s heaviest barrage in weeks.
The strike left deep craters and despatched shrapnel tearing by way of the humanitarian convoy, killing their passengers. Nearby buildings had been demolished. Trash luggage, blankets and, for one sufferer, a blood-soaked towel, lined the our bodies.
Analysts have warned that Putin was more likely to dip extra closely into his dwindling shares of precision weapons and step up assaults as half of a technique to escalate the conflict and shatter Western assist.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive has disadvantaged Moscow of mastery on the battlefield. Its maintain of the Luhansk area seems more and more shaky, as Ukrainian forces make inroads there, with the pincer assault on Lyman. Ukraine additionally nonetheless has a big foothold within the neighboring Donetsk area.
In the Zaporizhzhia area’s capital, anti-aircraft missiles that Russia has repurposed as ground-attack weapons rained down on folks ready in automobiles to cross into Russian-occupied territory so they might carry relations again throughout entrance strains, stated Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential workplace.
Russian-installed officers in Zaporizhzhia blamed Ukrainian forces, however gave no proof.
Russian strikes had been additionally reported within the metropolis of Dnipro. Regional Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko stated a minimum of one individual was killed and 5 had been wounded.
Ukraine’s air pressure stated the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa had been focused with Iranian-supplied suicide drones that Russia has more and more deployed, seemingly to keep away from shedding extra pilots who do not have management of Ukraine’s skies.
Ukraine has vowed to retake all occupied territory and Russia has pledged to defend its positive aspects, threatening nuclear-weapon use and mobilizing an extra 300,000 troops regardless of protests.
That was underscored by the combating for Lyman, a key node for Russian navy operations within the Donbas and a sought-after prize within the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Russian-backed separatist chief of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, stated town is “half-encircled” by Ukrainian forces. The Russian state information company RIA Novosti quoted him as calling the setback “worrying news.”
“Ukraine’s armed formations,” he stated, “are trying very hard to spoil our celebration.”