As the pro-Russian separatists went ahead with their referendums on independence in two regions of eastern Ukraine on Sunday, the United States denounced the exercise as “illegal” and attacked Moscow for not using its influence to forestall the vote.
The Obama administration also criticised Russia for not moving its forces away from the Ukrainian border, and renewed its warning of steeper sanctions if Moscow “continues to destabilize eastern Ukraine and disrupt this month’s presidential election”.
A pro-Russian election official in Donetsk was quoted by Fox News as saying that the turnout in the vote was “colossal”, adding: “What do you expect when people are shooting at usIJ” Results of the vote are likely to be released on Monday afternoon.
In a strongly-worded statement, the US State Department called the referendums “illegal under Ukrainian law”, terming them “an attempt to create further division and disorder” in the trouble-torn country.
“If these referenda go forward, they will violate international law and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The United States will not recognize the results of these illegal referenda,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
The statement slammed Russia for not seeing to it that the armed separatist groups postpone their referendums, as suggested by President Vladimir Putin on May 7, when he also announced that Russia was pulling back its forces from the Ukrainian border.
“Unfortunately, we still see no Russian military movement away from the border,” the statement said, noting that Kremlin-backed social media and news stations were on Saturday encouraging residents of eastern Ukraine to vote on Sunday. “Russian state media also continue to strongly back the referenda with no mention of Putin’s call for postponement,” it said.
The US statement said the focus of the international community must now be on supporting the Ukrainian government’s efforts to hold the presidential election on May 25. Citing recent independent polls, it said a substantial majority of Ukrainians intend to vote on May 25.