Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the situation on the front line with Russian forces clearly shows that Ukraine has the initiative.
At the same time, he downplayed the importance of the "referendums" that pro-Moscow separatists plan to organize in Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces to include them in Russia, praising the West's condemnation of this project.
This comes at a time when a senior US State Department official has warned that there will be "additional consequences" if Russia annexes parts of Ukraine, and Democratic and Republican senators have suggested that President Joe Biden's administration use secondary sanctions on financial institutions involved in the oil sector. Russian.
"I thank all friends and partners of Ukraine for their strong and resolute condemnation of Russia's intentions to organize other sham referendums," Zelensky said - in his daily evening message.
"Our position does not change according to this noise or any other announcement," he added, calling for "continued pressure" on Russia.
"Let us maintain our unity, protect Ukraine, liberate our land, and show no weakness," he added.
The European Union, Western countries and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had earlier expressed their rejection of any referendums held by pro-Russian separatists in Ukrainian territory, hours after the pro-Moscow authorities in Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Luhansk announced that simultaneous referendums would be held to join Russia. Starting next Friday.
Comic play
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that Russia is speeding up referendums in Ukraine in response to Kyiv's battlefield gains. It is an additional factor at the negotiating table, but rather it reflects the difficulties faced by Russian forces on the ground.
In turn, French President Emmanuel Macron described the planned referendums in Ukrainian provinces as funny and farcical, noting that this expected step was an "additional provocation" after Russia launched war on its neighbor Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also accused Moscow of organizing sham referendums in the eastern and southern Ukraine provinces, stressing in press statements in New York that these referendums "violate international law and will not be recognized by the international community."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described the planned referendums by the Russian-backed authorities as a further escalation of the Russian war, adding in a tweet on Twitter: "Fake referendums have no legitimacy and do not change the nature of Russia's aggressive war on Ukraine."
On the other hand, Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian President and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that the referendum to join the Donbass region with Russia is of great importance to protect the region and restore historical justice.
He added that the referendum will change the direction of Russia's development for decades and the geopolitical shift in the world will become irreversible, saying that the West and Ukraine are afraid of holding the referendum in Donbass.
Russian forces and pro-Russian separatist forces control the greater part of the Donbass region, the entire Kherson province and parts of Zaporozhye, while Ukrainian forces have launched a counterattack since last August to regain Kherson and what they lost in Lugansk and Donetsk provinces.
Russian warning
On the other hand, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grechko warned - during a meeting on Tuesday with the French ambassador to Moscow, Pierre Levy - Paris against sending weapons to Ukraine, considering that this is "unacceptable".
"The focus of attention was on the inadmissibility of sending more Western weapons to Ukraine, including French weapons, which are weapons used by the Kyiv regime to bomb civilian facilities and infrastructure," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said that the world should not stand idly by as a major nuclear power, heavily armed and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, sought to change borders through the use of violence, referring to Russia and its war on Ukraine.
He added - during a speech before the United Nations General Assembly - that it is important for all countries to categorically condemn Russia's war on Ukraine, considering that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not abandon his war and what he described as his "imperialist ambitions" unless he realizes that he cannot win.
Schultz stressed that he will not accept a peace dictated by Moscow, stressing that any referendums organized by Russia remain false, and noting that Berlin will host a conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine on October 25.