Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an agreement to integrate four regions of Ukraine into Russia.
According to the French news agency AFP, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Friday that the people of the four regions controlled by Moscow have become "our citizens forever".
A ceremony was held to annex Lugansk, Donsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia to Russia. Russian-backed leaders of Ukrainian regions were also present at the event.
"I want to tell the government in Kiev and its patrons in the West that the people of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia are becoming our citizens forever," the Russian president said.
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"We demand an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to hostilities from the government in Kiev and return to the negotiating table."
He said that Russia is not trying to revive the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union is no more. We cannot bring back the past and Russia does not need it anymore. We are not trying to make it.
The Russian president alleged that Western countries want to make Russia a 'colony'.
In a statement, the European leaders declared the annexation of Ukrainian territories to Russia as illegal.
European leaders have said they will never recognize the annexation of four Ukrainian regions to Russia.
27 European leaders accused the Kremlin of threatening global security.
Referendums were held in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia from last Friday to Tuesday.
The referendum has been debated for months by pro-Moscow officials.
