By Agnes Szucs
BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU denounces the “illegal” referendums held in four Ukrainian regions on whether to join Russia and their “falsified results,” the bloc's foreign policy chief said on Wednesday.
His remarks came after Russian-backed authorities in Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions announced that over 90% of the people had decided in favor of joining Russia. The votes were held over five days, from Sept. 23 through Sept. 27.
In a Twitter post, Josep Borrell called the vote “another violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity amidst systematic abuses of human rights.”
He also hailed the “courage of Ukrainians who continue to oppose and resist the Russian invasion.”
The referendums have been termed a sham and a violation of international law by Kyiv and its allies.
EU ambassadors meet later on Wednesday to continue the preparations of the bloc’s next sanctions package in response to the partial mobilization in Russia.
Peter Stano, an EU spokesperson, said on Tuesday that “there will be consequences for all people who assisted in these illegal referenda.”
Since the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine in February, the bloc has provided a total of €2.5 billion ($2.5 billion) in military aid, including lethal weapons, as well as personal protective gear, first aid kits, and fuel.
It has also imposed seven sanctions packages, targeting, among others, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, banning gold, oil, and coal imports, and the export of luxury goods and high-tech technology, as well as excluding Russian and Belarusian banks from the SWIFT international payment system.