The British authorities summoned the Russian ambassador in London and handed him a letter of protest after the annexation of the Ukrainian regions to the Russian Federation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, by his decree, ordered to expedite the acquisition of Russian citizenship by any foreigner entering the service in the Russian army.

In this context, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed: “We have taken a decisive step by signing Ukraine’s request to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as soon as possible.” This came after the Ukrainian president met with his army commanders after Russia annexed 4 Ukrainian regions, namely Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye.

Russian President Vladimir Putin during the ceremony of signing agreements on the accession to the Russian Federation of the Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions said that “Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions have become Russian regions”, noting that “the accession of the regions of the New Quartet of the Russian Federation expresses the popular will of millions, and he pointed out that “the choice of millions of people in these regions is carried out after the catastrophe of the fragmentation of the Soviet Union.”