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G7 countries to never recognize former parts of Ukraine as part of Russia — statement

"We solemnly reiterate that we will never recognise this illegal annexation or the sham referenda that Russia uses to justify it," the document states

BERLIN, October 11. /TASS/. The G7 countries will never recognize the accession of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as of the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions to the Russian Federation, according to a joint statement of G7 leaders issued by the German cabinet on Tuesday.

"The G7 firmly condemn and unequivocally reject the illegal attempted annexation by Russia of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk (Lugansk - TASS), Zaporizhzhya (Zaporozhye - TASS) and Kherson regions in addition to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. We solemnly reiterate that we will never recognise this illegal annexation or the sham referenda that Russia uses to justify it," the document states.

"Russia has blatantly violated the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. They cannot and do not give Russia a legitimate basis to change Ukraine’s borders. We call upon all countries to unequivocally reject these violations of international law and demand that Russia cease all hostilities and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops and military equipment from Ukraine," the G7 leaders added.

On March 11, 2014, Crimea’s Supreme Council and Sevastopol City Council adopted a declaration of independence. On March 15, 2014, the Crimean authorities held a referendum on reuniting with Russia. Most voters supported the idea (96.77% in Crimea and 95.6% in the city of Sevastopol), with turnout reaching 80%.

On September 23-27, the DPR and LPR, as well as the Kherson Region and the liberated territories of the Zaporozhye Region, held referendums to join Russia. In all of these regions, the overwhelming majority of voters favored becoming part of the Russian Federation.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine following a request for assistance from the leaders of the Donbass republics. After that, the US, the EU, the UK, as well as a number of other countries imposed sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities. In addition, Western countries began to supply arms and military equipment to Kiev worth billions of dollars at this stage.

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