Israel announced Thursday it would not recognize the annexation votes in the Russian referendums held in occupied Ukrainian regions this week.
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"Israel recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, in a move that could heighten tensions with Moscow as until now Jerusalem has sought to maintain ties despite the invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow and pro-Russian authorities of the four occupied regions in eastern Ukraine said on Tuesday that the majority of the population voted in favor of annexation, according to the first results of the "referendums," denounced in advance as a "sham" by Kyiv and its Western allies.
The Russian Electoral Commission also said that between 97-98% of the eligible voters backed the annexation after the partial counting of votes in polling stations in Russia, where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees were called to vote.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the West will never recognize Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory.
"We and many other countries have already been crystal clear. We will not – indeed, we will never – recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia," he told reporters.
Blinken repeated President Joe Biden's threat that the United States "will impose additional swift and severe costs on Russia" should it go ahead with the referendums.
"It's important to remember what's going on here. Russia invaded Ukraine, seized territory and is engaged in a diabolical scheme on some of the territory it seized where it has moved the local populace out," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council by video from Kyiv that Russia's "sham referendums" and attempts to annex Ukrainian territory rule out any talks with Moscow as long as Putin remained president, and called for Russia's "complete isolation" and tough new global sanctions.
He added that "any annexation in the modern world is a crime, a crime against all states that consider the inviolability of border to be vital for themselves."
The preordained outcome sets the stage for a dangerous new phase in Russia's seven-month war, with the Kremlin threatening to throw more troops into the battle and potentially use nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to address Russia's parliament about the referendums on Friday, and Valentina Matviyenko, who chairs the body's upper house, said lawmakers could consider annexation legislation on Oct. 4.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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