Russian lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation that will federally absorb the Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics into the Russian Federation, according to Russian news outlets.
Residents of the four regions were officially recognized as Russian citizens on Sept. 30 after President Vladimir Putin held a signing ceremony in Moscow with Kremlin-installed regional representatives from the four areas.
But according to state-owned news outlet TASS, Ukrainians residing in the partially occupied areas have one month to reject Russian citizenship, though the consequences of doing so remain unclear.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions will maintain their "republic" standing, while Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be referred to as "regions" under the new legal boundaries accepted by Moscow.
Moscow has determined that the defining boundaries of the four Ukrainian regions will now "be regarded as Russia’s state borders."
The U.S. and the international community have condemned Putin’s illegal attempts to seize Ukrainian territory, and so far, only North Korea has come out in support of the move.
Russia’s other top allies, including China and Iran, have yet to throw their weight behind the decision, and it is, therefore, unclear whether they will acknowledge the four regions as Russian.
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Pyongyang on Tuesday echoed Putin’s talking points and claimed the "overwhelming" support garnered during the referenda last week showed that the "will" of the Ukrainian people is to join the Russian Federation.
Moscow has also claimed the referenda were in line with the UN Charter.
But UN-Secretary General António Guterres condemned the annexation and said attempts to annex any state’s territory under "threat or use of force is a violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday followed through with previous warnings that Kyiv would not engage in peace talks with Moscow if it pursued annexation.
Zelenskyy enacted a decree first introduced by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council on Sept. 30 that laid out the "impossibility of holding negotiations" with Russia going forward.
The decree also called on Ukrainian officials to secure bilateral agreements to shore up Kyiv’s defenses and security alliances.
