Putin says situation in annexed regions will ‘stabilize’
Moscow, Oct 5 (EFE).- Russian president Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the Kremlin would “stabilize” the situation in the four eastern and southern Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia in the wake of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“We assume that the situation in the territories incorporated into Russia will be stabilized,” Putin said in televised statements.
The Kremlin leader’s comments came as Ukrainian forces continued to make gains against Russian occupiers in the southern Kherson region and eastern Luhansk region.
“When the situation stabilizes, we will be able to calmly develop these territories and help them to strengthen the country as a whole,” Putin said.
Earlier Wednesday, the Kremlin’s spokesman said Russia would “take back” the towns lost during the Ukrainian offensive in Russian-annexed territory in the east and south of the country.
“They will be with Russia forever, we will get them back,” Dmitry Peskov said at his daily press briefing.
Pro-Russian authorities in the eastern Luhansk region said on Wednesday that the situation in the town of Svatove was “alarming” as Ukrainian troops advanced.
The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic also pledged to retake the town of Lyman, which Ukraine recaptured over the weekend.
On Wednesday, Putin wrote the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia into law.
The annexations of the four regions in eastern Ukraine are illegal under international law and have been roundly condemned by the international community following “sham” referendums that were dismissed by Western powers.
Russia does not fully control any of the four regions.EFE
mos/mp/jt
