MOSCOW — On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech to the Russian people at the Kremlin about future plans with Ukraine and the “Special Military Operation.”
During his speech, Putin announced that the Russian Federation would officially annex the four regions of Ukraine under Russian control, declaring that millions of Ukrainians would live as Russian citizens “forever.”
To defend his annexation Putin exclaimed that this would be an attempt to fix what he thinks to be a historic mistake, referring to the separation of Ukraine and the collapse of the USSR in 1991. “The People made their choice, and that choice won’t be betrayed by Russia,” he said.
“I want the authorities in Kyiv and their real overlords in the West to hear me, The residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are becoming our citizens forever. Putin stated.
In response to Putin’s annexation, Ukrainian President Zelensky filed an application to join NATO, Jen Stoltenberg the 13th Secretary-General told reporters “NATO’s door remains open, but a decision about the membership has to be taken up by all 30 allies. Of course we take these decisions by consensus. Our focus now is on providing immediate support for Ukraine to help defend itself against the Russian invasion.”
Quoting Churchill President Zelensky vowed that Ukraine would never surrender to Russia. However, Putin has made it clear that he does not intend to give up the Russian annexed territories, If Ukraine is accepted into NATO it could spell disaster for Vladimir Putin and his future plans with the nation.