Peskov said that Moscow will treat any potential attacks on Donbass as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions after the referendums on joining Russia as attacks on its own territory, RT reported.
Responding to a media query on whether the areas would be treated as Russian land, Peskov replied, “Definitely.” He also said that the country’s constitution would come into force in these territories as soon as they joined.
Russia’s former president and the deputy head of the nation’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, warned that Russia would not hesitate to use “all means available” to defend its territory.
“An encroachment on Russian territory is a crime,” Medvedev said earlier this week. He also stated that Donbass joining Russia would make the “geopolitical transformation [of] the world irreversible.”
The US, as well as its allies in Europe and elsewhere – including Germany – have already stated they would not recognize the results of the referenda that kicked off on Friday. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also branded the polls “sham referendums” on Twitter. The voting is scheduled to be held between September 23 and 27.
AY/PR