The head of the US State Department, Anthony Blinken, said that Ukraine has the right to use American weapons to attack Russians in Ukrainian occupied territories. The "referendums" held by Russia do not change anything, CNN reports.
"Ukraine has the absolute right to defend itself throughout its territory, including to take back the territory that has been illegally seized in one way or another by Russia," said Blinken.
He noted that the USA will never recognize the occupied territories of Ukraine as part of Russia. Blinken emphasized that the USA is preparing tough sanctions against Russia due to attempts to annex Ukrainian territories.
- On September 23, the Russian occupiers started "referendums" in the captured parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. They will last until September 27.
- A number of countries have declared that they do not recognize the results of these pseudo-referendums, and new sanctions are promised against Russia.