Russia set to unilaterally annex 4 Ukraine territories, Putin to deliver speech Friday, Merkel harps on taking Putin’s word seriously

Russia’s presidential office says President Vladimir Putin will sign formal documents on Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions on Friday.

According to Russian officials, the four regions which represent about 15% of Ukraine voted overwhelmingly to be incorporated into Russian territory.

The Russian-installed leaders of the four regions of southeastern Ukraine have visited Moscow to finalise plans for annexation.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Putin will preside at a ceremony due to take place in Moscow’s Kremlin at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon.

He said that during the ceremony, Putin will sign documents to annex the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, and Kherson in the south.

Peskov added that Putin is also scheduled to give a speech on the annexation.

The move is based on the results of what pro-Russian forces called “referendums,” which were forcefully carried out in the four regions from Friday last week to Tuesday. It is expected to trigger a further backlash from Ukraine and the rest of the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly deliver a speech on Friday about the annexation of Ukrainian territory under Russian control.

Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Putin will hold a ceremony at the Kremlin to add territories of Ukraine to Russia.

Kyiv and its international allies have slammed them as a sham.

The West has stated that it will never recognise the annexation, with videos on social media showing armed soldiers enforcing the vote door-to-door.

The separatist leaders will soon be received by Russian President Vladimir Putin to ratify their “official” requests for annexation on Friday.

Russia’s state parliament in Moscow is then expected to vote on the matter in the next few days.

In a sign that the Kremlin intends to mark the occasion, some streets in the Russian capital around the famous Red Square will be closed on Friday. Giant video screens have been set up, with billboards proclaiming “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson – Russia!”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a new warning to Russia of a “very harsh” response if Moscow annexes the four regions.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a fresh round of sanctions on Russia designed “to make the Kremlin pay” for escalating the conflict in Ukraine with the “sham referendums”.

The EU’s energy commissioner has also called for the bloc to cap the price of Russian gas exports to Europe.

Meanwhile, Germany’s former chancellor Angela Merkel warned that taking Vladimir Putin’s words seriously is “a sign of political wisdom” not weakness.

Merkel, who left office two months before the Ukraine war began, was speaking about an answer she had given in June about Putin’s character.

“I replied that one should take his words seriously,” said Merkel, while speaking at the inauguration of the Helmut Kohl Foundation.

“And today, in view of the developments of the last few days, I would like to add: taking words seriously, not dismissing them out of hand as just a bluff, but dealing with them seriously is by no means a sign of weakness or appeasement, but a sign of political wisdom.”

She added that this wisdom would help to “preserve room for maneuver, or at least as importantly, even to develop new ones”.

Her comments come after Putin recently made a thinly veiled threat to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

The Russian president warned the West that Moscow “has various means of destruction…more modern than those of NATO countries”.

He said that “when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal.”

“It’s not a bluff,” he added.

AFP, AP, Reuters put together by LENS