Putin Declares 4 Annexed Regions “Ours Forever”, Blames US For Nord Stream Attacks

Russian President Vladimir Putin in lengthy speech declared a “mission accomplished” of sorts, regarding the official annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.

He said these eastern and southern provinces are now part of Russia “forever”.

Putin touted that the referendums were accomplished in line with the UN charter on self-determination for all peoples, and vowed “They have made their choice… this is the only path to peace. We will protect our land using all our forces and we will protect their security. We will of course rebuild all destroyed towns and continue building hospitals, theaters, and schools.”

Putin bluntly informed the large audience of top officials at Saint George’s Hall at the Grand Kremlin Palace of Moscow that there are now “four new regions of Russia” – a fait accompli that the Ukrainian government and its Western backers are rejecting.

This means Kiev is of course unlikely to accept Putin’s essential assertion of we’ve taken the four territories, “We call on the Kyiv regime to immediately stop hostilities and sit at the negotiating table,” Putin said.

As for the newly annexed territories, Putin made clear in his speech that we “won’t negotiate the status of the annexed territories” and further that he “won’t discuss” the now finalized results of the referendums.

This follows Crimea having long been taken off the table since its own popular referendum and annexation in 2014.

And with all eyes on the devastating sabotage against the Nord Stream pipelines, he pointed the finger squarely at Washington: “They are destroying European energy infrastructure… it’s clear who benefits.” According to his statements:

Putin blamed the United States for this week’s unexplained explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines that have left the damaged pipelines leaking huge amounts of natural gas into the Baltic Sea.

“It’s obvious to everyone who did it,” he said.

On the issue of dwindling energy supplies and soaring costs headed into what’s sure to be a rough, frigid winter for European populations, he slammed Western elites for a problem of their own making…

“They print money, but you cannot warm your homes with this printed money… They have to convince their citizens to shower less, eat less, and put on warm clothes.”

“The Western elites.. it’s a crisis due to their own fault.” He described that the goal of the “hybrid war” in Ukraine has a “Goal to break Russia at any costs.”

“The dictatorship of the Western elite is directed against all societies, including against the peoples of those Western countries themselves. It’s a challenge for all. This means the total negation of the human, the overthrow of religion and traditional values as the crushing of freedom becomes to look like the opposite of religion – open Satanism,” he said, repeating a familiar theme of his, and while rejecting “LGBT”/gender ideology as a threat to Russian society which the West seeks to impose.

"You can't feed people with paper dollars and euros. You can't heat people's homes with the lies you spread on social media," Putin says. "You can't warm people with puffed-up valuations – you need energy sources." pic.twitter.com/YvNoV5zwxt

— max seddon (@maxseddon) September 30, 2022

All eyes were also on the lookout for any references to Russia’s nuclear stance, with The Moscow Times relating his words as follows:

He also slammed Washington’s past use of nuclear weapons, comments that follow his warning last week that he “wasn’t bluffing” about resorting to “any means necessary” in Ukraine.

“The U.S. is the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons,” Putin said. “Creating a precedent.”

As Putin spoke in the Kremlin, hundreds of Russians gathered in Red Square in front of a stage emblazoned with the words “Donetsk. Luhansk. Zaporizhzhia. Kherson. Russia!”

In the latest sign that following the annexation declaration things are only going to escalate from here, Ukraine’s President Zelensky has on Friday responded to Putin’s speech by requesting “accelerated” entrance into the NATO alliance.