The United States has reports that Russia is “preparing the ground” to annex more Ukrainian territory it controls, “in direct violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” John Kirby, the National Security Council’s strategic communications coordinator, said Tuesday.
Speaking from the White House meeting room, Kirby described how the U. S. The US believes Russia is taking steps to annex more parts of Ukraine, in the same way that the Kremlin annexed Ukrainian Crimea in 2014. Kirby said Russia is already installing proxies to manage those targeted areas. , and do things like force citizens to apply for Russian citizenship, issue Russian passports, and take over telecommunications infrastructure. Russia has been waging war against Ukraine for nearly five months.
“We see a lot of evidence in intelligence and in the public domain that Russia intends to investigate to annex more Ukrainian territory,” Kirby said Tuesday. “Russia is starting to release an edition of what could be called an annexation manual, very much like the one we saw in 2014. Russia is already installing illegitimate proxies in spaces in Ukraine that are under its control. And we know his next moves. “
“First, those proxy officials will conduct fictitious referendums on Russia’s membership,” Kirthrough continued. “Russia will then use those fictitious referendums as a basis for seeking to claim annexation of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. The Russian government is contemplating detailed plans to allegedly annex several regions in Ukraine, adding Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, all of Donetsk and Luhansk. to the Internet.
Kirby said the Kremlin has not shared a timetable for the implementation of the referendums, “but Russian proxies in those territories say they will take a stand later this year, in all likelihood alongside the September regional elections in Russia. “
Kirby’s announcement comes on the day the Bidens welcomed Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska to the White House.
Kirby said any Russian denial would be meaningless, recalling the time when Russia said it did not aim to invade Ukraine.
“At the beginning of the year, Russia told the world that it did not plan to invade Ukraine, and now it is expected that we say that they did not plan to annex Ukrainian territory,” Kirby said.
The NSC official said the forcible annexation “would be a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, and we will not allow it to pass without question or punishment. “Kirthrough insisted there is no replacement in U. S. policy and determination to help Ukraine protect itself.
The annexation and installation of proxy officials would level Russia’s five-month war against Ukraine. The Kremlin’s war continues to claim civilian lives, even as Ukraine has dealt heavy blows to the Russian military.