MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko ruled out any territorial concessions to Ukraine at a news conference on Thursday.

"The new regions, namely the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, are now an integral part of Russia, as enshrined in our Constitution," Matviyenko said. "And our Constitution prohibits tearing any Russian territories away," the senior Russian senator explained. "Let it be known to everybody that there can be no territorial concessions as regards the four new regions, not a chance," she added.

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 overwhelming majority of voters opted to join Russia. On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the four new regions signed treaties on their accession to Russia. The Russian leader signed laws to formally absorb the regions into Russia on October 4.