Lecture at the University of Zurich. How does Zelenskyy react to Putin’s annexation plans?
After sham referendums, Russia will illegally annex four occupied Ukrainian territories. Putin’s actions are not recognized internationally. Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s lecture at the Europa Institute at the University of Zurich is awaited with greater excitement.
Next level of escalation in the Ukraine war: After the bogus referendums, which violate international law, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will officially announce the annexation of several Ukrainian territories this Friday.
Many students at ETH Zurich should be all the more excited. At 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, they can expect a lecture by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Europa Institute at the university entitled “War in Europe & Global Security Architecture”. It can be assumed that the 44-year-old will also comment on the recent announcements by Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin.
“A ceremony to sign agreements on the accession of new territories to the Russian Federation will take place in the Grand Kremlin Palace at 3:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. CEST),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Thursday, according to the Interfax agency. Peskov also announced a “voluminous appearance” by Putin.
Scholz, Truss and Co. assure Ukraine of support
Internationally, neither the staged votes in the east and south of Ukraine nor the annexation of the occupied territories are recognized. In 2014, Moscow had already annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Together with Crimea, almost 20 percent of Ukrainian territory is under Russian control.
Some European leaders are making it clear that the sham referendums conducted by Putin are ineffective. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on Twitter that the votes that were carried out “in the illegal occupation of Ukraine” were “worth nothing”. Germany will “never recognize the alleged results”.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss made a similar statement on Wednesday evening. They reported via Twitter on a conversation with the Ukrainian President Zelenskyj, in which they promised him the “unwavering support” of part of Great Britain. The country will “never recognize” Russia’s sham referendums, Truss assured. The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson made similar statements of solidarity via Twitter.
Stoltenberg guarantees Ukraine further aid
Charles Michel also found clear words. The President of the Council of Europe tweeted: «Fake referendums. Fake Results. We recognize neither the one nor the other.”
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s President himself informed of a telephone conversation with Jens Stoltenberg via his Twitter account. The NATO Secretary General decided the “illegal referendums”. In addition, Zelenskyy informed that “current developments on the battlefield and further support for the Ukrainian armed forces” were discussed.
On his account, Jens Stoltenberg spoke of a “blatant violation of international law”. He wrote: “These areas belong to Ukraine.” Consequently, he denied the legitimacy of the sham referendums and emphasized that the NATO states “support Ukraine’s sovereignty and its right to self-defense”.
Chiefs of the occupation administration want to travel to the ceremony
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the four heads of the occupation administrations deployed from Moscow to the unchanged Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson are due to arrive for the ceremony on Friday. A large rally is also planned in the center of Moscow, which is intended to demonstrate the alleged support of the Russians for Putin’s policies.
At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman emphasized that the ceremony on Friday was not yet about Putin’s speech to the Federal Assembly – i.e. the two chambers of the Russian Parliament. This is to take place later. The two chambers have already announced that they will decide on the annexations on Monday and Tuesday.
Ukrainian residents were forced to vote
Around seven months after the start of the war of aggression, Moscow had held sham referendums on accession to Russia in the occupied, state-recognized countries until last Tuesday. Accordingly, the Russian occupiers spoke of an allegedly overwhelming approval of sometimes even more than 99 percent.
It was already expected that the occupation administrations would then officially apply to Putin for admission to Russian territory – and thus an unprecedented wave of annexations would begin.
The mock referendums are not recognized worldwide. In the past few days, they have noticed numerous cases in which the Ukrainian residents of the occupied territories have been forced to vote.
dpa