Ukrainian MFA urges partners not to recognize results of elections held by Russia in occupied territories – statement
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on international partners to condemn the insignificant and arbitrary actions of the Russian Federation to conduct illegal elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and not to recognize the legitimacy of any "administration" that will be created based on their results, as well as any decisions that will be taken by them.
"Persons involved in the conduct of these pseudo-elections, including the Administration of the Russian Federation, representatives of the occupation administrations and electoral structures must be brought to justice. We are also initiating the imposition of new international sanctions on them," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Friday.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Russian Federation announced the holding of illegal "elections" to local occupation administrations on September 8-10 in the temporarily occupied parts of the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. The ministry noted that these actions of the Russian Federation grossly violate not only the legislation, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but also the norms of international law, in particular the UN Charter.
"Russia's pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories are negligible. They will have no legal consequences and will not lead to a change in the status of the Ukrainian territories captured by the Russian army. By organizing fake elections in the Ukrainian regions and Crimea, the Kremlin continues to delegitimize the Russian legal system," the Foreign Ministry said.