Putin: We are ready for negotiations with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied he was seeking a revival of the Soviet Union minutes after it was announced that four regions of Ukraine were being annexed by Russia in “referendums”.
Speaking from the Kremlin in front of hundreds of Moscow civil servants, the Russian President said that Russia will defend the territories with all the means at its disposal. “The people decided. There are four new regions in Russia,” Vladimir Putin said. “The results of the referendums are known. The people made their choice and it is a final choice,” calling on Kyiv to respect the result.
At the same time, the Russian president called on Ukraine to stop hostilities and negotiate. “We call on the Kiev regime to immediately cease fire, all hostilities and return to the negotiating table,” Vladimir Putin said. “Those who have their lives in the special military operation are heroes of Great Russia,” he stressed.
Referring to the West, he said: “They are waging a hybrid war against us, they want to destroy our culture. The West said they want to make Russia a colony, but we will protect our rights.”
Watch the ceremony live in the Kremlin
Putin was so late that he was also late for his own speech pic.twitter.com/rWybpCNcQN
— max seddon (@maxseddon) September 30, 2022
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dhe wished earlier that Russia would de jure integrate the parts of these 4 regions that are not under Russian control, while he would consider any attacks on the territories it integrates as attacks on Russia itself.
The head of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, does not know the Russian president briefed the body on plans to annex four regions of Ukraine to Russia – a technical step towards the accession by Russia of these areas.
State Duma Speaker Bichislav Volodin, a key Putin ally, told the Duma’s official Telegram channel that Putin had informed the body of the regions’ official demands.
Western governments and Kyiv said the polls were held under the coercion of the occupation, were not representative and violated international law.
Source: APE-MPE, Reuters