UNITED NATIONS, September 28. /TASS/. The United Nations stays committed to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and cannot consider the referendums on the accession to Russia in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions as a "genuine expression of the popular will," UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said on Tuesday.

"These exercises, which began on 23 September, been held during active armed conflict, in areas under Russian control and outside Ukraine’s legal and constitutional framework. They cannot be called a genuine expression of the popular will," she said at a meeting on the UN Security Council on Ukraine.

"Let me reiterate here that the United Nations remains fully committed to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions," she stressed.

The leadership of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as well as the liberated Kherson and Zaporozhye regions made a decision to hold referendums on joining Russia. All the four regions held the vote on September 23-27. The voting was monitored by more than 100 international observers from 40 countries, including EU nations. According to preliminary results, the overwhelming majority of voters in all the four regions supported their accession to Russia.