Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed treaties to annex the occupied Ukrainian territory, a move the West has called illegal land grabbing. The Ukrainian president responded with a wonderful request to join the NATO military alliance.
Putin’s resolution and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s signing of what he is a request for NATO’s “fast track” club prompted the two leaders to push their collision course, raising fears of a full-blown showdown between Russia and the West.
Putin vowed to protect Ukraine’s newly annexed regions through “all available means,” a renewed risk he made at a Kremlin signature rite where he also fiercely criticized the West, accusing the United States and its allies of seeking Russia’s destruction.
Zelenskyy then performed his own signing rite in Kyiv, releasing a video of him with a pen on papers he said were an official application for NATO membership.
Putin has made clear that any chance of Ukraine joining the military alliance is one of his red lines and cited it as a justification for his invasion, now in its eighth month, in Europe’s largest ground war since World War II.
In his speech, Putin suggested that Ukraine participate in peace talks, but insisted that he would not talk about the return of occupied regions. Zelenskyy said there would be no negotiations with Putin.
“We are in a position to discuss with Russia, but Array. . . with some other president of Russia,” the Ukrainian leader said.
In his signature rite in the Kremlin’s ornate St. George’s Hall, Putin accused the West of stoking hostilities to turn Russia into a “colony” and a “soulless slave mafia. “of thousands of other people have higher tensions that have not been felt since the Cold War.
World leaders, along with those of the major Group of Seven economies, responded with an avalanche of condemnation, with the United States and the United Kingdom announcing new sanctions.
US President Joe Biden said of Putin’s annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions: “Make no mistake: those movements have no legitimacy.
“The United States and its allies will not be intimidated by Putin and his reckless words and threats,” Biden added, noting that the Russian leader “cannot occupy his neighbor’s territory and get away with it. “
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a Thursday condemning Russia’s decision.
“The Charter of the United Nations is clear,” he said. Any annexation of the territory of a State through the State resulting from the risk or use of force is a violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and foreign law. “
On Friday at the United Nations, the Security Council of the 15 countries voted on a US and Albanian solution condemning Russian “sham” referendums and the annexation of Ukrainian territory. The vote failed because Russia has veto power.
U. S. Ambassador to the U. N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield echoed Guterres’ remarks Thursday, saying, “Putin miscalculated the determination of Ukrainians. it will never recognize any territory that Russia is supposedly seeking or annexing as anything other than a component of Ukraine. “
The call for Russian forces to withdraw from Ukrainian territory, the 4 regions that Russia now calls its own, will now be transmitted to the 193-nation General Assembly.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called it “the largest to annex European territory by force since World War II. “
The war is at “a crucial moment,” he said, and Putin’s resolve to annex more territory (Russia now claims sovereignty over 15% of Ukraine) marks “the maximum serious escalation since the war began. “track the offer for NATO, saying the alliance’s leaders “support Ukraine’s right to determine in its own way, what kind of security arrangements should be a component. “
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said Zelensky’s move toward the military alliance amounts to “begging NATO to push for the start of World War III. “
Zelenskyy vowed to keep fighting, defying Putin’s warnings that Kyiv will not try to regain what it lost.
“The entire territory of our country will be liberated from this enemy,” he said. “Russia already is. She feels our power. “
The immediate ramifications of NATO’s “fast track” request were unclear, as approval requires unanimous support from members. However, the shipment of Western weapons to Ukraine has already brought it closer to the alliance’s orbit.
“De facto, we have already demonstrated compatibility with the alliance’s standards,” Zelenskyy said. “We accept each other as true to each other, help each other and protect each other. “
The Kremlin rite took position 3 days after the final touch in the occupied regions of the “referendums” orchestrated by Moscow on joining Russia, which Kyiv and the West dismissed as a blatant land grab at gunpoint and lies. In his fierce speech, Putin insisted that Ukraine treat votes “with respect. “
At the end of the ceremony, the leaders of the occupied regions established in Moscow gathered around Putin, shook hands and chanted “Russia!Russia!” with the public.
Putin has been angry that the United States and its allies seek to destroy Russia. He said the West was acting “like a parasite” and its monetary and technological might “to steal from the whole world. “
He described Russia as pursuing a historic project to regain its prestige as a wonderful post-Soviet force and counter Western dominance, which he said collapsed.
“History has called us to a battlefield to fight for our people, for the wonderful ancient Russia, for long-term generations,” he said.
Moscow has supported the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine since they declared independence in 2014, weeks after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. troops to Ukraine on February 24.
Russia’s Kremlin-controlled parliament will meet next week to approve the annexation treaties and send them to Putin for final approval.
The orchestrated procedure entered a celebratory phase on Friday night, with thousands gathering in Red Square for a concert and rally that Putin joined. Many waved Russian flags as artists from Russia and the occupied regions of Ukraine sang patriotic songs. and public establishments were invited to attend and academics were allowed to miss classes.
Putin’s resolve and a partial mobilization of troops were attempts to prevent further battlefield defeats that could threaten his 22-year rule. By formalizing Russia’s achievements, he hopes to scare Ukraine and its Western backers by threatening to escalate the confrontation unless they back down. anything they show no signs of doing.
Russia controls as many of the Luhansk and Kherson regions, about 60 of the Donetsk region and much of the Zaporizhzhia region, where it has seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
But the Kremlin is on the verge of a heavy army loss, with reports of the imminent Ukrainian encirclement of the eastern city of Lyman. Resuming it could pave the way for Ukraine to enter deep into Luhansk, one of the annexed regions.
“It sounds pretty pathetic. Ukrainians are doing something, taking action in the real world of curtains, while the Kremlin is building a kind of virtual authenticity, unable to respond in the real world,” said former Kremlin speechwriter turned analyst Abbas Gallyamov. . , adding that “the Kremlin will be offering anything comforting to the Russians. “
Russia hit Ukrainian cities with missiles, rockets and suicide drones in Moscow’s heaviest bombardment in weeks, with an attack in the capital Zaporizhzhia region killing another 30 people and wounding 88.
During the Zaporizhzhia attack, anti-aircraft missiles that Russia repurposed as ground-attack weapons rained down on other people waiting in cars to cross Russian-occupied territory so they could bring a circle of relatives across the front lines, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a lawmaker. head of the presidential office of Ukraine.
Russian officials in Zaporizhzhia blamed Ukrainian forces but provided no evidence.
The attack left deep craters and sent shrapnel into the humanitarian convoy, killing the passengers. Neighboring buildings were demolished. The bodies were then carried out with garbage bags, blankets and, for one victim, a blood-soaked towel.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive has put Moscow at a disadvantage on the battlefield. Its grip on the Luhansk region looks increasingly fragile, as Ukrainian forces raid with pincer attack on Lyman, a key node for Russian army operations in the Donbass and a coveted price. Russia-backed Donetsk separatist leader Denis Pushilin said Ukrainian forces had “half surrounded” Lyman. Ukraine maintains a giant presence in the neighboring Donetsk region.
Russian movements were also reported in the city of Dnipro. Regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said at least 3 other people were killed and five wounded.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Odessa were being attacked by Iranian-supplied suicide drones that Russia is deploying.
CBS News correspondent Pamela Falk contributed to the report.