Biden clams Putin’s referendum in occupied parts of Ukraine as an ‘absolute sham’ and US will never recognize them or the results ‘manufactured in Moscow

• Biden on Thursday promised not to recognize Russian claims on Ukrainian land
• It comes as Putin is expected to attend a ceremony Friday to annex four regions
• It follows referenda suggesting massive support for Moscow’s plan
• ‘The so called referenda was a sham, an absolute sham,’ said Biden
• The UN described Moscow’s plan as a dangerous escalation 

President Joe Biden promised on Thursday that the United States will never recognize the results of what he said was a ‘sham’ referendum on the future of Russian-occupied Ukraine.

It came after the Kremlin said it was pressing ahead with plans to annex four regions of Ukraine with a ceremony on Friday.

Voters supposedly approved Moscow’s plans by huge majorities in referenda that Western leaders have condemned as illegal and rigged.

Biden used a speech to Pacific Island leaders to denounce the plans.

‘I’d also like to briefly address the shameless and transparent effort by Russia to annex parts of neighbour Ukraine,’ he said.

‘The United States – I want to be very clear about this – the United States will never, never, never recognise Russian claims on Ukraine sovereign territory. 

‘The so called referenda was a sham, an absolute sham.’

Russia says the votes were genuine and demonstrated support for the annexation.

President Joe Biden promised on Thursday that the United States will never recognize the results of what he said was a ‘sham’ referendum on the future of Russian-occupied Ukraine

Vladimir Putin will give a speech on Friday announcing the annexation of four occupied regions of Ukraine into Russia, the Kremlin has confirmed

Voting was held in four Russia-backed regions of eastern Ukraine. Western leaders condemned Moscow’s plans to annex the regions and dismissed the results as illegal 

The results showed overwhelming support for Russia in the four regions

Tass, the Russian state news agency, published the results a day earlier. It said they showed 98 percent of voters in Luhansk supported joining Russia; 87 percent support in Kherson region; 93 percent in Zaporizhzhia; 99 percent in Donetsk. 

Nonsense, said Biden. 

‘The results were manufactured in Moscow and the true will of the Ukrainian people is evident every day as they sacrifice their lives to save their people and maintain the independence of their country,’ he said.

‘Russia’s assault on Ukraine in pursuit of Putin’s imperial ambitions is a flagrant, a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, and the basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.’

In some places Russian-installed official took ballot boxes from house to house alongside armed henchmen. 

Putin is expected to attend the annexation ceremony in one of the Kremlin’s grandest halls.

His spokesman said agreements will be signed ‘with all four territories that held referendums’ and Putin would deliver a major speech. 

It comes as Russian forces in the town of Lyman, in the eastern Donbas region, face being surrounded with Ukrainian forces continuing to advance

The United Nations chief said it would mark a dangerous escalation.   

‘Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned,’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to hold an emergency top-level meeting on Friday.

Biden’s message was echoed in a statement by his Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

‘The Kremlin’s sham referenda are a futile effort to mask what amounts to a further attempt at a land grab in Ukraine,’ he said. 

‘To be clear: the results were orchestrated in Moscow and do not reflect the will of the people of Ukraine.’

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