Putin proclaims the annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine: "They will be Russian citizens forever"

Defends the "right" of citizens of Donetsk, Lugansk, Jerson and Zaporiyia to join the "historic homeland"

Putin and the pro-Russian leaders of the four Ukrainian regions sign the accession treaties in the Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday announced the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Jershon and Zaporiyia to the Russian Federation, which involves placing militarily occupied territories under his supposed sovereignty. "They will be Russian citizens forever," he has pointed out.

During a symbolic act in the Kremlin, and in the presence of the main authorities of the country and the pro-Russian leaders of the four Ukrainian regions, Putin has taken a new step in his sovereignist offensive against the neighboring country, ignoring the warnings of Western governments and the UN, who question the legal validity of this annexation.

Putin has defended that it responds to the desire of "millions of citizens", who have their "right" to ask to join Russia by virtue of the principle of self-determination of peoples, which, as he has pointed out, is also contemplated by the United Nations itself.

The president has gone back to the Soviet era and has appealed to tradition to defend that, outside of Russia, there are those who want to "return to their historical homeland." "The people of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia will be Russian citizens forever," he said, in a speech addressed to both kyiv and the West.

He has also remembered the "martyrs" who have lost their lives "victims of the kyiv regime", including the Russian soldiers who have died since the beginning of the invasion in February, and has called on the Ukrainian authorities to accept a ceasefire and return to the negotiating table.

The Russian president has advocated "protecting freedom" against those who seek "world sovereignty" and act with "double standards." "The West talks about an international order based on rules, but where do these rules come from?" He raised to applause.

"They don't see us as a free society," but as "a multitude of slaves," he added, accusing "greedy" Western governments of acting for their own benefit.

In this sense, he has warned that NATO's non-expansion commitments in Eastern Europe have turned out to be a "deception", as well as the agreements to stop the development of weapons. "The United States is the only country in the world that used nuclear weapons twice," he recalled, referring to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

ENERGY CRISIS

Putin has incorporated into his speech numerous allusions to other issues aside from the strictly warlike, from a defense of conservative family values ​​to criticism of the capitalist system, especially with regard to the world energy and food crisis, of which the president Russian has exonerated himself.

The energy crisis stems from "many years of wrong policies" by the West, according to Putin, who has denied that Moscow can be blamed for "all the disasters" in the world. In his opinion, the energy problems began "long before" what he continues to describe as a "special operation" in Ukraine.

The president has linked the "Anglo-Saxon" countries with the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, since they would have helped "organize explosions" in the pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea. The Ukrainian government, on the other hand, has blamed Russia for this incident.

At the end of the speech, interrupted on several occasions by those present, Putin signed the annexation treaties of the four regions, in the presence of the pro-Russian leaders of these territories, who also affixed their signatures in the Kremlin's Saint George hall.

RUSSIAN TERRITORY IN THE EYES OF MOSCOW

Moscow orchestrated referendums in the four regions that it now claims as its own, in a context marked by military defeats on the ground after the counteroffensive ordered a month ago from kyiv. The annexation is also preceded by a partial mobilization with which the Russian Armed Forces aspire to summon tens of thousands of reservists.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, had affirmed this Friday that any attack against the adhered Ukrainian regions will be considered as "aggression" against Russia, before influencing that these territories will be an integral part of the country.