(Reuters) – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday it was up to the people living in separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine if they wanted to hold referendums on joining Russia.
“From the very beginning … we’ve been saying that the peoples of the respective territories should decide their fate,” Lavrov said on state TV when asked about several coordinated moves by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine on Tuesday to stage votes on joining Russia.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
