Lithuania does not recognise results of Russia’s sham elections in occupied territories of Ukraine, - Foreign Minister Budrys
Lithuania will never recognise the results of the illegal elections to the Russian State Duma that Russia held in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The country’s Foreign Minister, Kęstutis Budrys, described the vote as a gross violation of international law.
According to Censor.NET, this was stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, on the social media platform X.
According to Budrys, the so-called elections to the Russian State Duma did not meet democratic standards.
"The so-called elections to the Russian State Duma were neither free nor fair. The opposition was silenced, independent voices were suppressed, and OSCE observers were barred from entering the country," said the Lithuanian minister.
He specifically emphasised the illegality of the Russian vote held in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
"The holding of sham elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine constitutes a gross violation of international law. We will never recognise these results," said Budrys.
Russia organised voting in the elections to the State Duma on 18–20 September, including in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as in Crimea and Sevastopol. Even before the vote, the Ukrainian Central Election Commission stated that the organisation of such ‘elections’ in the temporarily occupied territories was illegitimate.
- As previously reported by Censor.NET, the Estonian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, described the so-called elections to the Russian State Duma as a political charade aimed at consolidating Vladimir Putin’s power. He also condemned Russia’s holding of a vote in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
- The EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, proposes imposing sanctions against individuals who facilitated the holding of elections to the Russian State Duma in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
- Russian authorities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine reported that the illegal vote had concluded, citing an unusually high turnout that significantly exceeded the average figures in Russia.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland condemned Russia’s holding of illegal sham elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
