Russian sham referenda are a pure violation of international law.

 EU member states condemn in the “strongest possible terms” the illegal referenda organized by Russia in Ukraine, EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said Wednesday. Borrell urged the international community not to recognize the sham referenda. Speaking alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Borrell said that with the illegal referenda organized by Russia, the “Kremlin is following the same playbook that we already saw in Georgia in 2008. And in Crimea in 2014. We condemn in the strongest possible terms, and I am sure I can speak on behalf of the European Union member states, that none of them will recognize this falsified outcome,” Borrell said, calling on the international community to do the same.