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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPutin vowed to protect newly annexed regions of Ukraine by \u201call available means,\u201d\u00a0a renewed nuclear-backed threat he made at a Kremlin signing ceremony where he also railed furiously against the West, accusing the United States and its allies of seeking Russia\u2019s destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zelenskyy then held his own signing ceremony in Kyiv, releasing video of him putting pen to papers he said were a formal NATO membership request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Putin has repeatedly made clear that any prospect of Ukraine joining the military alliance is one of his red lines and cited it as a justification for his invasion, now in its eighth month, in Europe\u2019s biggest land war since World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his speech, Putin urged Ukraine to sit down for peace talks but insisted he won\u2019t discuss handing back occupied regions. Zelenskyy said there\u2019d be no negotiations with Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but \u2026 with another president of Russia,\u201d the Ukrainian leader said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At his signing ceremony in the Kremlin\u2019s ornate St. George\u2019s Hall, Putin accused the West of fueling the hostilities to turn Russia into a \u201ccolony\u201d and a \u201ccrowd of soulless slaves.\u201d The hardening of his position, in the conflict that has killed and wounded tens of thousands of people, further raised tensions already at levels unseen since the Cold War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Global leaders, including those from the Group of Seven leading economies, responded with an avalanche of condemnation. The U.S. and the U.K. announced\u00a0more sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. President Joe Biden said of Putin\u2019s annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions: \u201cMake no mistake: These actions have no legitimacy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed treaties to annex parts of Ukraine into Russia, defying Western powers and marking a sharp escalation of the seven-month conflict with its neighbor. (Sept. 30)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAmerica and its allies are not going to be intimidated by Putin and his reckless words and threats,\u201d Biden added, noting that the Russian leader \u201ccan\u2019t seize his neighbor\u2019s territory and get away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Union said its 27 member states will never recognize the illegal referendums that Russia organized \u201cas a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine\u2019s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Friday that would have condemned the referendums, declared that they have no validity and urged all countries not to recognize the annexation. China, India, Brazil and Gabon abstained on the vote in the 15-member council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called it \u201cthe largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The war is at \u201ca pivotal moment,\u201d he said, and Putin\u2019s decision to annex more territory \u2013 Russia now claims sovereignty over 15% of Ukraine \u2013 marks \u201cthe most serious escalation since the start of the war.\u201d Stoltenberg was noncommittal on Zelenskyy\u2019s fast-track NATO application, saying alliance leaders \u201csupport Ukraine\u2019s right to choose its own path, to decide what kind of security arrangements it wants to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia\u2019s Security Council, said Zelenskyy\u2019s move toward the military alliance amounts to \u201cbegging NATO to accelerate the start of World War III.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zelenskyy vowed to keep fighting, defying Putin\u2019s warnings that Kyiv shouldn\u2019t try to recapture what it has lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe entire territory of our country will be liberated from this enemy,\u201d he said. \u201cRussia already knows this. It feels our power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The immediate ramifications of the \u201caccelerated\u201d NATO application weren\u2019t clear, since approval requires members\u2019 unanimous support. The supply of Western weapons to Ukraine has, however, already put it closer to the alliance\u2019s orbit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDe facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards,\u201d Zelenskyy said. \u201cWe trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Kremlin ceremony came three days after the completion in the occupied regions of Moscow-orchestrated \u201creferendums\u201d on joining Russia that Kyiv and the West dismissed as a blatant land grab held at gunpoint and based on lies. In his fiery speech, Putin insisted Ukraine treat the votes \u201cwith respect.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the ceremony concluded, the Moscow-installed leaders of the occupied regions gathered around Putin, linked hands and chanted \u201cRussia! Russia!\u201d with the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Putin cut an angry figure as he accused the United States and its allies of seeking to destroy Russia. He said the West acted \u201cas a parasite\u201d and used its financial and technological strength \u201cto rob the entire world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n He portrayed Russia as pursuing a historical mission to reclaim its post-Soviet great power status and counter Western domination he said is collapsing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHistory has called us to a battlefield to fight for our people, for the grand historic Russia, for future generations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moscow has backed eastern Ukraine\u2019s separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions since they declared independence in 2014, weeks after Russia\u2019s annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula. Russia captured the southern Kherson region and part of neighboring Zaporizhzhia soon after Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament will meet next week to rubber-stamp the annexation treaties, sending them to Putin for final approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The orchestrated process went into a celebratory phase Friday night, with thousands gathered in Red Square for a concert and rally that Putin joined. Many waved Russian flags as entertainers from Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine performed patriotic songs. Russian media reported employees of state-run companies and institutions were told to attend, and students were allowed to skip classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Putin\u2019s land grab and a partial troop mobilization were attempts to avoid more battlefield defeats that could threaten his 22-year rule. By formalizing Russia\u2019s gains, he seemingly hopes to scare Ukraine and its Western backers by threatening to escalate the conflict unless they back down \u2014 which they show no signs of doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia controls most of the Luhansk and Kherson regions, about 60% of the Donetsk region and a large chunk of the Zaporizhzhia region, where it seized Europe\u2019s largest nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Kremlin is on the verge of another stinging military loss, with reports of the imminent Ukrainian encirclement of the eastern city of Lyman. Retaking it could open the path for Ukraine to push deep into Luhansk, one of the annexed regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt looks quite pathetic. Ukrainians are doing something, taking steps in the real material world, while the Kremlin is building some kind of a virtual reality, incapable of responding in the real world,\u201d former Kremlin speechwriter-turned-analyst Abbas Gallyamov said, adding that \u201cthe Kremlin cannot offer anything \u0441omforting to the Russians.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia pounded Ukrainian cities with missiles, rockets and suicide drones in Moscow\u2019s heaviest barrage in weeks, with one strike in the Zaporizhzhia region\u2019s capital killing 30 and wounding 88.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Zaporizhzhia attack, anti-aircraft missiles that Russia has repurposed as ground-attack weapons rained down on people waiting in cars to cross into Russian-occupied territory so they could bring family members back across front lines, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine\u2019s presidential office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian-installed officials in Zaporizhzhia blamed Ukrainian forces, but gave no evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strike left deep craters and sent shrapnel tearing into the humanitarian convoy, killing passengers. Nearby buildings were demolished. Bodies were later covered with trash bags, blankets and, for one victim, a blood-soaked towel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Ukrainian counteroffensive has deprived Moscow of battlefield mastery. Its hold on the Luhansk region appears increasingly shaky, as Ukrainian forces make inroads with the pincer assault on Lyman, a key node for Russian military operations in the Donbas and a sought-after prize. The Russian-backed separatist leader of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said Ukrainian forces have \u201chalf-encircled\u201d Lyman. Ukraine maintains a large foothold in the neighboring Donetsk region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian strikes were also reported in the city of Dnipro. Regional Gov. Valentyn Reznichenko said at least three people were killed and five were wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine\u2019s air force said the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa were targeted with Iranian-supplied suicide drones that Russia has increasingly deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties Friday to illegally annex more occupied Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of his war. Ukraine\u2019s president countered with a surprise application to join the NATO military alliance. Putin\u2019s land-grab and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s signing of what he said is an \u201caccelerated\u201d NATO membership application sent the two leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":26161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[11261,8843,11363,6728,183,5304,10922,5178,2422,12708,11583,12758,5520,9331,7711,5341,9787,11088,10767,10307,9171,5262,9319,8116,7600,5995,6193,7445,9198,6621,9505,1195,5455,3577,10497,10321,8601,5440,5252,9907,2471,7601,9515,10454,1152,5342,7839,8029,5423,10634,6194,1429,5572,12985,5340,5766,12187,4802,8000,6666,5925,6072,11973,11542,1198,5396,9126,10302,3805,11377,71,5333,3457,5217,3852,5713,5655,5752,12778,10041,5818,6047,7391,9178,5180,6885,5555,7231,9262,6348,8033,694,11255,5251,5724,3954,36,8280,7932],"class_list":["post-26155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-accused","tag-air-force","tag-aircraft","tag-alliance","tag-assault","tag-attack","tag-avalanche","tag-biden","tag-brazil","tag-by-force","tag-capital","tag-captured","tag-cars","tag-city","tag-cold","tag-cold-war","tag-collision","tag-concert","tag-conflict","tag-convoy","tag-crowd","tag-cut","tag-denis-pushilin","tag-destruction","tag-dnipro","tag-donbas","tag-donetsk","tag-drones","tag-economies","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-family","tag-future","tag-gabon","tag-illegal","tag-independence","tag-india","tag-invasion","tag-jens-stoltenberg","tag-joe-biden","tag-kherson","tag-killed","tag-killing","tag-kremlin","tag-kyiv","tag-kyrylo-tymoshenko","tag-land","tag-lies","tag-lost","tag-luhansk","tag-medvedev","tag-military","tag-missiles","tag-moscow","tag-mykolaiv","tag-n","tag-nato","tag-negotiations","tag-nuclear","tag-nuclear-power","tag-odesa","tag-one","tag-orbit","tag-parliament","tag-peace","tag-peace-talks","tag-plant","tag-president","tag-presidential","tag-putin","tag-rally","tag-russia","tag-russian","tag-russians","tag-sanctions","tag-security","tag-security-council","tag-seized","tag-speech","tag-strike","tag-students","tag-suicide","tag-troops","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraines-president","tag-ukrainian","tag-union","tag-united-states","tag-us","tag-video","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","tag-war","tag-weapons","tag-will","tag-world","tag-zaporizhzhia","tag-zelenskyy"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/pub\/2022\/10\/0B72433C-0FF8-4C81-BFE6-11B0618810CB.jpeg\")
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