<Anchor>
Russia announced today (30th) that it will sign a treaty for territorial annexation with four occupied territories in Ukraine.
Russia has previously claimed that the annexation of Russian territory was decided through a referendum in the region.
However, the UN Secretary-General said the referendum had no legal effect and strongly criticized Russia's attempts to annex territories, saying that even US President Biden could never admit it.
Correspondent Kim Ki-tae.
<Reporter>
The Kremlin of Russia announced today that it will sign a treaty to annex four occupied territories of Ukraine into its new territory.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic of eastern Ukraine, which have recently passed a territorial annexation plan through a referendum, and Zaporiza and Kherson provinces in the south are the subjects of this treaty.
The treaty ceremony will be held at the Kremlin at 3 pm local time, with Russian President Vladimir Putin attending.
Putin will also meet with the heads of the administrations of the four occupied territories before the treaty is signed, and all of the pro-Russian heads of government have already gathered in Moscow.
After the treaty is signed, the formal merger process is finalized after ratification by the Senate and House of Representatives and the final signature of the President.
US President Biden has strongly criticized Russia.
[Biden/President of the United States: I will never, never, never admit Russia's claim to Ukrainian territory.
The referendum is completely fake.]
At the same time, he announced additional sanctions against Russia and stepped up surveillance of the threat of using nuclear weapons.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also stressed that Russia's referendum "has no legal effect" and "should never be tolerated".