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Diplomat expounds on legality of referendums to French Foreign Ministry — embassy

When Alexey Meshkov visited the French Foreign Ministry, he handed over to French diplomats the translation into French of Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech at the Kremlin on September 30

PARIS, October 3./TASS/. Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov explained at the French Foreign Ministry, where he was summoned on Monday, why the referendums in the DPR, LPR, the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions on accession to Russia were legal, the Russian embassy told journalists on Monday.

"On October 3, Ambassador Alexander Meshkov was summoned to the French Foreign Ministry, where France's position on the issue of the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions joining the Russian Federation was set forth to him," the embassy said.

"The ambassador categorically rejected insinuations regarding the legitimacy of referendums, as well as the decisions on the accession of these regions to the Russian Federation," the diplomatic mission said in a statement.

"It was stressed to the French side that all these moves had been made in accordance with Article 1 of the UN Charter, which enshrines the right of peoples to self-determination," the embassy stressed. Also, when Meshkov visited the French Foreign Ministry, he handed over to French diplomats the translation into French of Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech at the Kremlin on September 30.

From September 23 to September 27, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) as well as the Kherson Region and the Zaporozhye Region held a referendum where the majority of voters opted to join Russia.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the DPR and the LPR, the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions signed treaties on their accession to Russia. In his speech at the signing ceremony, Putin called on Kiev to immediately cease hostilities and return to the negotiating table.

The president said that the people’s choice at the referendums on these territories was their inalienable right enshrined in the UN Charter.

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