The leader of the separatists in Luhansk, Leonid Baschnik, announced his intention to hold a referendum as soon as possible on the accession of the breakaway region in eastern Ukraine to Russia.
The head of the CIS Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma, Leonid Kalashnikov, said that holding a referendum in the republics of Lugansk and Donetsk on joining Russia is not appropriate in principle at the moment.
The Ukrainian government has condemned what it described as the fake referendums that Russia is holding in occupied areas of Ukraine.
The head of Ukraine's military intelligence Kirilu Budanov said that Russia wants to divide Ukraine in two, as it happened when Korea was divided into North and South, and vowed to launch all-out war to prevent the division of the country.
For his part, US President Joe Biden said he was not calling for regime change in Russia when he said on Saturday that President Vladimir Putin "cannot stay in power."
Here are the latest developments on the 33rd day of this war:
two hours ago
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky:
The Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to defend our land.
We will work to impose new sanctions on Russia.
Negotiations are continuing, and there is a possibility of holding a new round in Turkey.
I am amazed at how many people have taken to the streets for Ukraine.
I will continue to communicate with other parliaments, and I will hold new meetings next week.
3 hours ago
Erdogan calls Putin
The office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that he informed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in a phone call, the need for a ceasefire and improvement of humanitarian conditions in Ukraine.
"Erdogan noted the importance of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, the establishment of peace and the improvement of humanitarian conditions in the region," the office added in the statement that followed the call.