{"id":11679,"date":"2022-10-01T00:07:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T22:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=11679"},"modified":"2022-10-01T10:44:03","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T08:44:03","slug":"ukraine-accelerates-nato-bid-as-russia-annexes-four-occupied-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/ukraine-accelerates-nato-bid-as-russia-annexes-four-occupied-regions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine accelerates NATO bid as Russia annexes four occupied regions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is submitting an \u201caccelerated\u201d application to join the NATO transatlantic military alliance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zelenskyy\u2019s comments came in response to Russia\u2019s move to annex four Ukrainian regions &#8211; Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. The world leaders including resident Biden, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have condemned \u201cthe illegal annexation\u201d of the four regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine\u2019s application for accelerated accession to NATO,\u201d <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ukrinform.net\/rubric-polytics\/3583125-ukraine-filing-application-to-join-nato-zelensky.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#ac0707\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Zelenskyy said<\/span><\/a>. It is not immediately clear what an \u201caccelerated\u201d application would mean, as ascension to NATO requires the unanimous approval of all 30 of the alliance\u2019s member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has confirmed that Kyiv submitted a formal fast-track NATO membership application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZelenskyyUa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ZelenskyyUa<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/r_stefanchuk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@r_stefanchuk<\/a> we signed an application for Ukraine\u2019s membership in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NATO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NATO<\/a> under the accelerated procedure. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 is defending democracy, the principles of freedom and the entire civilized world. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Ukraine<\/a> has proven that we are a worthy and reliable ally. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XdI43Grrhh\">pic.twitter.com\/XdI43Grrhh<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Denys_Shmyhal\/status\/1575857660582166528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said all NATO members must jointly take the decision on Ukraine\u2019s request.  \u201cNATO is not party to the conflict,\u201d Stoltenberg said, adding that \u201ca decision on [Ukraine\u2019s] membership has to be taken by all 30 allies by consensus.\u201d He called Russia\u2019s announcement to annex Ukrainian territory the most serious escalation of the conflict since Moscow invaded its neighbor in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Putin signs documents to annex Ukrainian regions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday presided over a ceremony at the Kremlin to annex four Ukrainian regions partly occupied by his forces, laying claim to some 40,000 square miles of land or about one-seventh of all Ukrainian territory. Putin signed the formal annexation documents alongside the&nbsp;Moscow-appointed leaders of the four Ukrainian territories being seized by Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want the Kyiv authorities and their real masters in the West to hear me so that they remember this. People living in Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia have become our citizens. Once and for all,\u201d Putin said in his speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the possibility of peace talks, Putin said: \u201cWe call on Kyiv to immediately cease fire, end all hostilities, to stop the war that it had unleashed back in 2014, and to return to the negotiating table.\u201d However, Moscow \u201cwill not discuss the choice of the people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. That has been made. Russia will not betray them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Russia-annexation.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Russia-annexation.jpeg?resize=837%2C502&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11684\" width=\"837\" height=\"502\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Russia-annexation.jpeg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Russia-annexation.jpeg?resize=300%2C180&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Russia-annexation.jpeg?resize=768%2C461&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 837px) 100vw, 837px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><em><sup>Head of the Kherson Region Vladimir Saldo, Head of the Zaporizhzhia Region Evgeny Balitsky, Head of the Donetsk People\u2019s Republic Denis Pushilin and Head of the Lugansk People\u2019s Republic Leonid Pasechnik with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Image Credit: Mikhail Metzel\/TASS)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>U.S., UK slap additional sanctions on Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The United States imposed new sanctions&nbsp;on Russia after Russian proclaimed the&nbsp;biggest annexation&nbsp;of Europe since World War II. The White House said that the United States, together with our allies and partners is imposing new sanctions on&nbsp;individuals and entities inside and outside of Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will rally the international community to both denounce these moves and to hold Russia accountable. We will continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment it needs to defend itself, undeterred by Russia\u2019s brazen effort to redraw the borders of its neighbor,&#8221; U.S. President <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2022\/09\/30\/statement-from-president-biden-on-russias-attempts-to-annex-ukrainian-territory\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#ac0707\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Joe Biden said in a statement<\/span><\/a>. Biden added that will be signing legislation to provide an additional $12 billion to support Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, we took swift and severe measures in response to President Putin&#39;s attempt to annex regions of Ukraine \u2013 a clear violation of international law. We will continue to impose costs on anyone that provides political or economic support for this sham.<\/p>&mdash; Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecBlinken\/status\/1575863004633403392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>UK Prime Minister&nbsp;Liz Truss&nbsp;condemned the move by Putin, saying Britain will never accept his&nbsp;claim to the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia and that it amounts to a \u201cviolation of international law\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/sanctions-in-response-to-putins-illegal-annexation-of-ukrainian-regions\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#ac0707\" class=\"has-inline-color\">United Kingdom has imposed new sanctions on Russia<\/span><\/a> including measures directly targeting the governor of its Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina. The UK had also&nbsp;imposed new services and goods export bans that are targeted at \u201cvulnerable sectors of the Russian economy\u201d. Britain is also banning the export of nearly 700 goods crucial to Russia\u2019s industrial and technological sectors. Under the new sanctions, Russia will lose access to primary western services that Russia depends on, including IT consultancy, architectural services, engineering services, and transactional legal advisory services for certain commercial activities in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Europe condemns Russian move<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The president of the European Commission, the European Union\u2019s executive arm, has condemned Russia\u2019s \u201cillegal\u201d annexation move, saying it \u201cwon\u2019t change anything\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll territories illegally occupied by Russian invaders are Ukrainian land and will always be part of this sovereign nation,\u201d Ursula von der Leyen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The European Council has \u201cunequivocally\u201d condemned Russia\u2019s \u201cillegal\u201d annexation of the four regions. \u201cBy wilfully undermining the rules-based international order and blatantly violating the fundamental rights of Ukraine to independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, core principles as enshrined in the UN Charter and international law, Russia is putting global security at risk,\u201d the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/press\/press-releases\/2022\/09\/30\/statement-by-the-members-of-the-european-council\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#ac0707\" class=\"has-inline-color\">council said in a statement<\/span>.<\/a> We will never recognize this illegal annexation. These decisions are null and void and cannot produce any legal effect whatsoever,\u201d it added. EU said that the bloc will continue to provide strong economic, military, social, and financial support to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">27 leaders condemn the illegal annexation. <br><br>We do not and will never recognise the sham &#39;referenda&#39;.<br><br>We will never recognise this illegal annexation.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WEMfLFnfe9\">https:\/\/t.co\/WEMfLFnfe9<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CharlesMichel\/status\/1575829338012147712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Poland and Greece have issued strong statements condemning Russia\u2019s annexation of four regions of Ukraine. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said the \u201cNetherlands will never recognize this annexation, just as we don\u2019t recognize the annexation of Crimea.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sweden\u2019s government also denounced the action. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing but a complete farce,\u201d Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said, adding \u201cWe condemn the illegal annexation in the strongest terms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Giorgio Meloni, who is widely expected to become Italy\u2019s prime minister next month, said in a statement that Putin\u2019s move to annex four Ukrainian regions has \u201cno legal and political value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G7 ministers threaten economic costs on Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have condemned Russia\u2019s proclaimed annexation and warned of further economic costs. \u201cWe will impose further economic costs on Russia, and on individuals and entities \u2013 inside and outside of Russia \u2013 that provide political or economic support to these violations of international law,\u201d the official statement said..<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will never recognize these purported annexations, nor the sham \u2018referenda\u2019 conducted at gunpoint,\u201d reads a joint statement by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and the EU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is submitting an \u201caccelerated\u201d application to join the NATO transatlantic military alliance. Zelenskyy\u2019s comments came in response to Russia\u2019s move to annex four Ukrainian regions &#8211; Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[62,1],"tags":[75,357,59,20,113,7,61,22,128],"class_list":["post-11679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-news","tag-conflict","tag-europe","tag-nato","tag-russia","tag-security","tag-u-s","tag-uk","tag-ukraine","tag-war"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Ukraine-Russia-annexation-IRIA-Image.jpg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-32n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11679"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11729,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11679\/revisions\/11729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}