NATO condemns Russia's annexation of four regions in Ukraine

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemned on Friday Russia's "illegal and illegal" annexation of four regions in Ukraine, stressing that allies will never recognize that these territories are part of Russia.

"Ukraine has the right to recover these lands, and we will support it to continue liberating these lands," Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels, after President Vladimir Putin officially signed the annexation of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions (east), Zaporizhia and Kherson (south).

"These areas belong to Ukraine, as well as to Crimea," which Moscow annexed in 2014.

"The allies will never recognize these territories as part of Russia," he added.

"We are closely monitoring what Russia is doing, and we have told Russia very clearly that there will be serious repercussions if nuclear weapons are used in Ukraine," he warned.

When asked about Ukraine's candidacy for NATO membership "urgently", announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky, earlier, he said, "Every democracy in Europe has the right to join NATO, and we have reiterated that the door will remain open." But he reminded that the decision to approve membership requires The consensus of the thirty member states.

He also stressed NATO's refusal to participate directly in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

He stressed that the allies will defend their strategic facilities after the supposed sabotage acts on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the international waters of the Baltic Sea off the island of Bornholm.

"There are NATO ships and aircraft in the area and they are collecting information useful to the ongoing investigation with the aim of determining what is behind these attacks," he said.

On Saturday, Stoltenberg will receive Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

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