Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a session of the Foreign Ministers Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan July 29, 2022. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday it was up to the people living in separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine if they wanted to hold referendums on joining Russia.
“From the very beginning … we’ve been saying that the peoples of the respective territories should decide their fate,” Lavrov said on state TV when asked about several coordinated moves by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine on Tuesday to stage votes on joining Russia.
