The United States said that the entry of parts of Ukraine into Russia would complicate the settlement of the conflict

“The prospects for a diplomatic outcome will become much more difficult if Russia unilaterally seizes and attempts to annex territory,” TASS quoted him as saying.

The press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov previously stressed that the residents themselves want to hold referendums on joining the Russian Federation in the liberated territories of Ukraine.

The American official noted that the United States does not recognize the annexation of Donbass to Russia and rejects the results of a possible referendum.