The UN does not consider that the Russian referendum held in Ukraine is "an expression of the popular will"

MADRID, 28 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo assured the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the referendums held in eastern Ukraine by Russia "cannot be called a genuine expression of the popular will."

"Unilateral actions intended to provide an appearance of legitimacy to the attempted acquisition ... of another state by a state ... cannot be considered legal under international law," DiCarlo said, according to a statement. released by the UN Secretariat for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.

DiCarlo has assured that voters have participated in the referendum after the Russian authorities in the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions have accompanied them at gunpoint to the polling stations.

These exercises, which have been carried out during an "active armed conflict" in areas of Ukraine under Russian control and "outside Ukraine's legal and constitutional framework, cannot be called a genuine expression of the popular will," undersecretary .

However, DiCarlo has reproached Russia for its "inconsistent" rhetoric in relation to the declaration on the prevention of a nuclear war of the five states signed on January 3, 2022.

"Let me reiterate the Secretary-General's (António Guterres) call on all nuclear weapon states, including Russia, to recommit to the non-use and progressive elimination of nuclear weapons," he said.

In this regard, he clarified that the UN remains "deeply concerned" by reports of continuous attacks near the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, and has urged the combatants to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA).

"It is imperative that all attacks on nuclear facilities end and that the purely civilian character of such facilities be restored," DiCarlo stressed.

The results released this Tuesday by the Russian Electoral Commission on the referendums, with the counts already completed in most cases, show overwhelming support in the four territories, especially in Donetsk, where 98.7 percent is reached, according to the TASS news agency.

In Lugansk the 'yes' has reaped 97.93 percent; in Zaporizhia, 97.81 percent; while the Kherson region has been the one that has received the least support for joining Russia, although the votes in favor have been notably higher, with 96.75 percent.

The Ukrainian authorities and Western governments do not grant any validity to the referendums, while Moscow intends to use them to legitimize its occupation, as it did in 2014 with the Crimean peninsula. The Kremlin has already made it clear that the hypothetical annexation of the four territories would be quick.