Canadian defence minister ‘disgusted’ by Russia’s plan to annex parts of Ukraine
Global News
Russian officials have insinuated that the annexation of the areas of Ukraine could legitimize an escalation in the war, which has ground on since Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion.
Canada’s national defence minister is “disgusted” at the news Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to formally annex four regions of Ukraine on Friday.
Putin, who has seen his troops beaten back in a Ukrainian counteroffensive, will attend a ceremony on Friday in the Kremlin when four occucpied regions of Ukraine will be officially folded into Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
“I agree wholeheartedly that the referendums were a sham and that the annexation is completely unjustified and contrary to the international rules-based order,” Anita Anand told reporters during a virtual news conference on Thursday.
“Canada condemns these actions and I personally am disgusted by them as they are reprehensible and a completely unwarranted and illegal intrusion into territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”
An official annexation was widely expected following the votes that wrapped up on Tuesday in areas under Russian occupation in Ukraine.
Moscow-installed administrations in the four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine claimed Tuesday night that 93 per cent of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, as did 87 per cent in the Kherson region, 98 per cent in the Luhansk region and 99 per cent in Donetsk.
The United States and many of its western allies have sharply condemned the votes as “sham” and vowed never to recognize their results. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a call Wednesday that Canada wouldn’t recognize Russia’s declaration and would support Ukraine.
Ukraine has also called the referendums illegitimate, saying it has every right to retake the territories, a position that has won support from Washington.
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