Zimbabwe Remains on Russia's Side: National Assembly Speaker

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Zimbabwe will continue to support Russia following referendums held in several Ukrainian regions on becoming part of Russia, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Zimbabwe Jacob Mudenda told Sputnik.

"Zimbabwe, even before the referendum[s], was on the side of Russia in terms of understanding the root cause of the conflict. …Zimbabwe and Russia are victims of sanctions, so they are comrades in the sanctions battle," Mudenda said.

Nonetheless, he pointed out that Zimbabwe had not made any official statements on recognizing the referendum results, since the recognition of the results of various international processes is initiated by the cabinet of ministers on behalf of Zimbabwe’s president and other branches of government cannot make any statements until the cabinet announces its decision.

Zimbabwe is also set to launch direct flights with Russia, but the issue requires a thorough bilateral review on the level of tourism and transport ministries, Jacob Mudenda said.

"We work on that the Russian airline flies to Zimbabwe, and when we have appropriate airline equipment also to reciprocate that gesture by the Russian airline. The work is in progress," Mudenda said.

The official also said that the issue requires a thorough bilateral consideration on the level of the tourism and transport ministries, and expressed hope that the work on the issue would be expedited so that Russian and Zimbabwean air carriers may soon start a substantial interaction.

On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, signed agreements on the accession of these territories to Russia, following referendums that showed that an overwhelming majority of the local population supported becoming part of Russia.

Earlier this week, the text of the updated constitution of Russia was published, where the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, as well as the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, are indicated as part of Russia.