United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Wednesday, during the UN Security Council meeting, that Washington refuses to recognize Moscow's referendums on Ukrainian territory.
"Let’s be clear, the international community will never recognize Russia’s attempts to change Ukraine’s borders by force," stressed Greenfield, warning that Russia "is laying the groundwork to attempt to annex the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya and all of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts." National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters that Russia "instructed [its] officials to begin preparing to hold sham referenda," first of which could take place this week.
In a joint statement, posted on the USUN website, the UNSC reiterated it remains "committed to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders" and called for "immediate cessation of hostilities by the Russian Federation."