Putin’s Ukraine land-grab condemned by West as Zelensky fast-tracks Nato bid

The Russian leader signed treaties on Friday for an illegal annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of his seven-month invasion

Western leaders have united in condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine land-grab as President Zelensky hit back with a surprise application to join Nato.

At a Kremlin ceremony speech filled with anti-West rhetoric, Putin issued a thinly veiled nuclear threat vowing to protect the newly annexed regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia by “all available means”.

Ukraine’s leader immediately countered with a signing ceremony of his own, releasing video of him putting pen to papers that he said were a formal Nato membership request.

Putin’s land-grab and President Zelensky’s “accelerated” Nato membership application sent the two leaders speeding even faster on a collision course that is cranking up fears of a full-blown conflict between Russia and the West.

Putin with the leaders of the four annexed regions
AP

“De facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards. They are real for Ukraine - real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction,” Mr Zelensky said.

“We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. This is the alliance.”

Mr Zelensky added: “Ukraine is ready for dialogue with Russia, but with a different Russian president.”

Putin’s move prompted a flurry of sanctions from western countries, with the UK and US announcing new sanctions.

The UK summoned Russia’s ambassador to London Andrey Kelin to protest the “illegal” move.

US President Joe Biden said Putin’s actions “have no legitimacy”.

“America is fully prepared, prepared with our Nato allies to defend every single inch of Nato territory. Every single inch,” Mr Biden said.

“And so, Mr Putin, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. Every inch.”

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the annexations “the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War.”

“Putin has mobilised hundreds of thousands of more troops, engaged in irresponsible nuclear sabre-rattling and now illegally annexed more Ukrainian territory,” he told a press conference.

AP

“Together, this represents the most serious escalation since the start of the war.”

He said Nato reaffirmed its “unwavering support” for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and would not be deterred by Putin from supporting the country in defending itself against Russia.

The European Union responded with a joint statement rejecting and condemning “the illegal annexation” of the four regions.

The EU’s 27 member states said they will never recognise the illegal referendums that Russia organised “as a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

In a Kremlin ceremony at the ornate St George’s Hall to herald the annexation of the occupied parts of Ukraine, Mr Putin accused the West of fuelling the hostilities as part of what he said is a plan to turn Russia into a “colony” and a “crowd of slaves”.

TOPSHOT-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-WAR
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
AFP PHOTO / Ukrainian presidential press-service

The hardening of his position, in a conflict that that has killed and wounded tens of thousands of people, cranked up tensions already at levels unseen since the Cold War.

The Kremlin ceremony came three days after the completion in occupied regions of Moscow-orchestrated “referendums” on joining Russia that were dismissed by Kyiv and the West as a bare-faced land-grab held at gunpoint and based on lies.

But Putin insisted that Ukraine must treat the Kremlin-managed votes “with respect”.

After the signing ceremony of treaties to join Russia, Moscow-installed leaders of the occupied regions gathered around Putin and linked hands, before joining chants of “Russia! Russia!” with the audience.

Mr Putin also railed at the West, cutting an angry figure as he accused the US and its allies of seeking to destroy Russia. He said the West acted “as a parasite” and used its financial and technological strength “to rob the entire world”.

He portrayed Russia as being on a historical mission to reclaim its post-Soviet great power status and counter western domination which he said is collapsing.

“History has called us to a battlefield to fight for our people, for the grand historic Russia, for future generations,” he said.

Both houses of the Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament will meet next week to rubber-stamp the treaties.

The separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine have been backed by Moscow since declaring independence in 2014, weeks after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.

The southern Kherson region and part of neighbouring Zaporizhzhia were captured by Russia soon after Mr Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

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