Russia annexes occupied land as Kyiv seeks NATO entry

KYIV Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties Friday to illegally annex more occupied Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of his war. Ukraine’s president countered with a surprise application to join the NATO military alliance.

Putin’s land-grab and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s signing of what he said is an “accelerated” NATO membership application sent the two leaders speeding faster on a collision course that is cranking up fears of a full-blown conflict between Russia and the West.

Putin vowed to protect newly annexed regions of Ukraine by “all available means,” a renewed nuclear-backed threat he made at a Kremlin signing ceremony where he also railed furiously against the West, accusing the U.S. and its allies of seeking Russia’s destruction.

Zelenskyy then held a signing ceremony of his own in Kyiv, releasing video of him putting pen to papers he said were a formal NATO membership request.

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 his speech, Putin urged Ukraine to sit down for peace talks but immediately insisted he won’t discuss handing back occupied regions.

Zelenskyy said there’d be no negotiations with Putin. “We are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but … with another president of Russia,” the Ukrainian leader said.

At his signing ceremony in the Kremlin’s ornate St. George’s Hall, Putin accused the West of fuelling the hostilities as part of what he called a plan to turn Russia into a “colony” and “crowds of slaves.” 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.

Western countries responded with an avalanche of condemnation, more punishment for Russia and aid for Ukraine. The U.S. announced sanctions for more than 1,000 people and firms connected to Russia’s invasion, including its Central Bank governor.

Of Putin’s annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, U.S. President Joe Biden said: “Make no mistake: These actions have no legitimacy.”

The European Union said its 27 member states will never recognize the illegal referendums that Russia organized “as a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called it “the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War.”

The war is at “a pivotal moment,” he said, and Putin’s decision to annex more territory — Russia now has claimed to have sovereignty over 15 per cent of the country — marks “the most serious escalation since the start of the war.” Stoltenberg was noncommittal on Zelenskyy’s decision to make a fast-track NATO application, saying alliance leaders “support Ukraine’s right to choose its own path, to decide what kind of security arrangements it wants to be part of.”

The immediate ramifications of the “accelerated” NATO application weren’t clear, since approval requires members’ unanimous support.