US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in a speech at the UN General Assembly, condemned Russia's intentions to annex the occupied territories of Ukraine by holding pseudo-referendums, stressing that this step and intentions to mobilize even larger reserves are a flagrant disregard for the principles of the United Nations, as well as a signal of "failure."

 His speech was quoted by CNN.

 The Secretary of State said that it is not surprising that Russia is taking these steps right now - after failures on the battlefield and growing concern in the world about the war it unleashed.

 "This is a sign of Russia's failure," said Anthony Blinken (in English - a sign of Russian failure - ed.).

 "We have seen that in recent weeks, Ukraine has made significant progress in regaining its territory captured by Russian forces after the February 24 aggression. This is also a time when Russia has seen a major shift in trends on the battlefield, and even some of its closest allies are clearly expressing concern that what the Kremlin is doing and what consequences it will have for the world," Blinken noted.

 The State Secretary emphasized that the US will never recognize Russian pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories and attempts to annex them.