WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2022) The Canadian government denounces Russia's planned referendums in Eastern Ukraine and does not intend to recognize the results, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
"Canada denounces Russia's planned 'referendums' in occupied regions of Ukraine. We will never recognize them. This is a blatant violation of international law. It is a further escalation of war, and it is unacceptable," Trudeau said via Twitter.
Canada is one of the largest contributors to the Ukrainian military and has so far provided more than C$626 million (US$473 million) since February 2022, while completely disbursing a $378 million allocation provided under this year's Federal budget. Canada has also disbursed to Kiev loans worth $1.5 billion.
Earlier on Tuesday, representatives of the Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia administrations, announced that they will holding referendums to join Russia.
Trudeau's comment comes as officials in the collective West, including from NATO and the US State Department, have warned of new rounds of harsher sanctions against Russia if any referendums in Eastern Ukraine are carried out.
