Macron calls Russian referendums in Ukraine a ‘travesty’

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday denounced pro-Russian separatists’ plans for referendums in Ukraine, saying any vote for annexation would be legally meaningless.

“I think what Russia announced is a travesty,” he told reporters at the UN General Assembly, calling it a “new provocation” that “will have no consequence on our own position.”

“The very idea of organizing referendums in regions witnessing war, which are suffering bombings, is the height of cynicism,” Macron said.

Regions held by Moscow on Tuesday announced that they would hold referendums in the coming days on annexation by Russia, a step that the United States has been predicting and warning against.