According to US intelligence, Russia is laying the groundwork for annexing Ukrainian territory as it seeks to establish full control over its gains in the east.
The White House says Moscow is preparing to install illegitimate representatives in areas under its control, set the ruble as the default currency and force residents to apply for citizenship.
“Today we have information, including the intelligence of reduced intelligence that we can share with you, on how Russia is laying the groundwork for the annexation of Ukrainian territory that it controls in direct violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” the spokesman said in head of the National Security Council, John Kirby. .
It is the same tactic used in 2014 when Russia announced its annexation of Crimea after taking control of it from Ukraine, he added.
The international community considers the annexation of Crimea illegitimate.
“We want to make that clear to the American people,” Kirby said. “No one is fooled.”
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “dusting off the 2014 playbook.”
Read more: Zelenskyy fires the head of Ukrainian security services and the top prosecutor for “treason” in his ranks
Kirby, meanwhile, said the United States will announce a new arms package for Ukraine in the coming days as the war in the country progresses.
The package is expected to include more HIMARS rocket systems, which have been used with devastating effects on the front lines while Ukrainian forces hit ammunition depots behind enemy lines.
It occurs when Putin visited Iran on his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Ukraine.
In statements Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised that the flag of Ukraine “will be in all our cities and towns” once again.
He told Telegram, “The only question is time.”
“Step by step, we move forward, we interrupt the supply of the occupants, we identify and neutralize the collaborators,” he said.