MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – According to information from the Kremlin, there will be no referendum on union with Russia in the occupied areas of southern Ukraine in the short term. “If security is not fully guaranteed – and we see the constant beatings by the Ukrainian military and nationalists on civilian targets in these areas – it is of course hardly possible to speak of it (of holding a referendum – ed.)”, said the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday. In doing so, he contradicted the demands of the pro-Russian administration in the Cherson and Zaporizhia regions and some Moscow politicians for the region to be quickly annexed to Russia.
Peskov denied that Moscow had already made a decision on the voting and reiterated his thesis that the people of the region should decide their own future. “For this it is necessary to create the right conditions,” he added. This primarily affects the safety of the population. At the same time, Peskov condemned the supply of weapons from the West, but assured that they would not prevent Russia from realizing the goals it had set for the military operation.
In the south of Ukraine, Russia has largely occupied the Kherson region and the southern part of the Zaporizhia region – but not the region’s capital itself. The pro-Russian administration set up by Moscow has repeatedly emphasized in recent weeks that it is aiming for secession from Ukraine and union with Russia. It should be done as soon as possible, it said. On Wednesday, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament, the State Duma, Leonid Slutzki, named July as a possible date for a referendum in Cherson./bal/DP/mis