Members of the European Council said they strongly reject and unequivocally condemn Russia's illegal annexation of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions of Ukraine. The statement has already been published on the website of the European Council.
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Member States stressed that they do not and will never recognize either the illegal “referendums” organized by Russia as a pretext for further violating the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, or their falsified and illegal results.
" These decisions are void and cannot have any legal effect.. Crimea, Kherson, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Lugansk are Ukraine,” the document states..
The EU also called on all states and international organizations to unconditionally renounce this illegal annexation, and stressed that the European Council strongly supports Ukraine and its people.