Putin warns that Kyiv's refusal to recognise 2022 sham referendums could lead to new war

Moscow is insisting that Kyiv recognise the results of sham referendums held in autumn 2022 in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics [self-proclaimed and non-recognised quasi-state formations in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts – ed.] and occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, after which the occupied Ukrainian territories were declared to be "Russian".

Source: Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in an interview with Sky News Arabia; RBC, a Russian news outlet

Details: Putin added that ignoring the results of these sham referendums would mean that there was a chance of renewed armed conflict.

He also believes that Ukraine must be neutral, refusing to join alliances and renouncing nuclear weapons, as the basis for long-term stability in the region.

Quote from Putin: "I hope that the current leaders of Ukraine will be guided by national interests and not the interests of third parties…

Ukraine deserves a better fate than being a tool in the hands of external forces working against Russia."

Background: From 23 to 27 September 2022, the Russians held sham referendums on whether the captured territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts should be annexed by Russia. The results were apparently 87-99% in favour of annexation.

A few days later, Putin signed a treaty on the accession to Russia of the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and declared that henceforth, their residents were citizens of the Russian Federation.

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