The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, said on Saturday in New York that the regions of Ukraine where referendums are held will be under the full protection of Russia if they are annexed by Moscow, Reuters reported on Sunday, Agerpres reports.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, speaking at the UN General Assembly and the world media, tried to justify the invasion of Ukraine, which began in February, repeating Moscow’s false statements that the elected government in Kyiv was installed illegitimately, full of neo-Nazis and in the east of the country Russian-speaking oppression .

On Friday, Russia launched referendums in four regions in eastern Ukraine (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia) with the aim of annexing these territories seized by force.

“After these referendums, Russia will, of course, respect the will of those people who have suffered for many years from the bullying of the neo-Nazi regime,” Lavrov said at a press conference after addressing the General Assembly.

Responding to the question of whether Russia would have grounds to use nuclear weapons to defend the annexed regions of Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov said that Russian territory, including that which “will be enshrined” in the Constitution in the future, “is under the full protection of the state.” . “All laws, doctrines, concepts and strategies of the Russian Federation are valid throughout its territory,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, referring to the Russian doctrine of the use of nuclear weapons.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday that Lavrov’s statements and President Putin’s previous statement that he was serious about using nuclear weapons were “irresponsible” and completely unacceptable.

“Ukraine will not give in. We call on all nuclear powers to speak out now and let Russia know that such rhetoric puts the world at risk and will not be tolerated,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.