The United States And European Union Denounce Russia's Proposed Referendum In Occupied Ukraine

JAKARTA - The leaders installed in Moscow in the occupied areas of Ukraine's four regions, planning to hold a referendum on joining Russia in the coming days, drew criticism from Kyiv and the West.

"Russia can do whatever they want. It won't change anything," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in response.

"Ukraine has the right to liberate its territory and will continue to free them no matter what Russia says," he wrote separately on Twitter.

Meanwhile, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington rejected such a referendum "unequivocally."

In Europe, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc and its member states would not recognize the referendum result, considering further steps against Russia if the vote goes ahead.

As for French President Emmanuel Macron and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausa, both used the word 'parody' to describe the planned sound.

Pro-Russian figures announced a referendum for the Sept. 23-27 provinces of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia provinces, representing about 15 percent of Ukraine's territory, or an area the size of Hungary.

Previously, Russia had considered Lugansk and Donetsk, which together formed the partially occupied Moscow Donbas region in 2014, to be independent states.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and the West consider all parts of Ukraine held by Russian troops to be illegally occupied.