In the middle of last month, Balitski had already said he wanted to hold the plebiscite in early autumn. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that peace negotiations with Russia would be impossible with the organization of such referendums in regions occupied by the Russians.
“It is not us who organize the referendum, it is the people of these regions who have such projects,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov parried. “He (Zelensky) should ask his citizens why many don’t want to live in his country.”