The United States remains "concerned about steps Russia is taking to attempt to institutionalize control over sovereign Ukrainian territory, particularly in Ukraine's Kherson region," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday.
Speaking at a briefing, Price said that "the Kremlin is probably weighing a few approaches, from recognizing a so-called People's Republic, as Russia forcibly did in Donetsk and Luhansk, to an attempted annexation, just as Russia did in Crimea."
"It's a predictable part of the Russian playbook, which is why we are continuing to sound the alarm now, particularly following Russian President Putin's unilateral decree that would fast track the issuance of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens. Russia used similar tactics in Donetsk and Luhansk in 2019," he said.
"Russia is almost certainly failing to gain legitimacy for proxy governments in newly seized territories in Ukraine, as protests persist, and residents refuse to cooperate," Price added.
He continued: "Russia's initial objectives of controlling large swaths of Ukraine has been nothing short of a complete failure. The Kremlin probably views that forcibly holding Kherson would provide Russia a land bridge to Crimea, as well as gaining some kind of so called victory and attempt to justify Russia — to Russia's domestic audiences — [of] the thousands of lives Putin's war of choice has destroyed. We will continue to spotlight Russia's territorial designs in Ukraine as well as its ongoing aggression, just as we hold to account those who facilitate it, including with additional punitive economic measures."
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