White House Claims Without Evidence That Russia Wants to 'Annex' Ukrainian Territory

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on Tuesday that Russia is planning to "annex" Ukrainian territory it controls.

Kirby told reporters during the Tuesday White House press briefing that Russia is in the midst of "rolling out a version of what you could call an annexation playbook," adding that it is "similar" to events that took place in 2014, when Crimea reunited with Russia following a referendum.

"We have information today including from downgraded intelligence that we are able to share with you that Russia is laying the groundwork to annex Ukrainian territory that it controls in direct violation of Ukraine's sovereignty," Kirby claimed. "We are seeing ample evidence and intelligence and in the public domain that Russia intends to try to annex additional Ukrainian territory."

Kirby further alleged that Russia is considering annexing such regions as Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, as well as all of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. He also doubled down on past allegations that Moscow has plans of "installing illegitimate proxy officials" in Ukraine.

"Russia's attempting to set the conditions on the ground by seeking to establish branches of Russian banks to establish the ruble as default currency in these areas, and to sabotage civilian internet access," he continued, adding that one of the steps includes "forcing" locals to apply for Russian citizenship.

However, in addition to not offering any concrete evidence on these allegations, Kirby told reporters that Moscow's supposed timeline for 'annexing' these territories remains unclear. He subsequently surmised that it could take place later this year.

It should be noted that the US and its allies made similar allegations even before the start of Russia's special military operation. The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier rejected claims it sought to install a puppet government in Ukraine, underscoring that Western nations were actively working to escalate tensions in the region.

The latest remarks came as Kirby also detailed that the Biden administration would be preparing to issue yet another military aid package to Ukraine - one that will include additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and ammunition for multiple launch rocket systems.