Finnish politician calls for recognition of Russia's new territories

Moscow, January 26 - TASS

Armand Mema, a member of the "Liberal Alliance" party in Finland, called for recognizing the new areas controlled by Russia as part of the Russian Federation, and said that only in this way could the Russian-speaking population in these territories be protected.

"I don't believe Ukraine is ready for peace. The Donbas issue must be resolved, and the Russian-speaking population in these territories has suffered enough. We must recognize the territories newly controlled by Russia as part of it. The Russian-speaking population living there cannot be protected in any other way. More than 14,000 civilians were killed simply because they were Russians," Mema wrote on social media platform X.

The politician added that if Vladimir Zelenskyy really wanted peace, he "should be more realistic".

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that Russia had called on Ukraine to grant the residents of Donbas legitimate self-determination rights, but Kyiv chose to launch a war. He also pointed out that, given the continuous advance of the Russian army, Russia's interest in demanding the Ukrainian armed forces to withdraw from the occupied territories had dropped to zero.

Previously, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about the territorial issues of the Ukraine conflict, stating that according to the Russian Constitution, Crimea, the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye Oblast, and Kherson Oblast are inseparable parts and subjects of Russia.

The referendums on the accession of the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson Oblast, and Zaporozhye Oblast to the Russian Federation were held from September 23 to 27, 2022. According to the vote count of 100% of the votes, 99.23% of voters in the Donetsk People's Republic supported joining the Russian Federation; 98.42% in the Luhansk People's Republic; 87.05% in Kherson Oblast; and 93.11% in Zaporozhye Oblast. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech at the Kremlin on September 30, 2022, on the results of these referendums, and signed documents on the admission of these regions into Russia.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1855427998222403/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.