U.S. Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said this at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
"I want to start by condemning Russia's devastating missile attacks on Odesa today [on March 15] – attacks that left at least 14 people dead, and dozens more wounded. This violence is unconscionable, and it is inextricably linked with the matter we are here to discuss: Sham presidential elections in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories," she said.
Thomas-Greenfield noted that for those who have questions about Russia's intentions in Ukraine, there is an old saying: "Once is a fluke. Twice is a coincidence. And three times is a pattern."
In this context, she stated that the purported annexation of Crimea and a sham referendum were not a fluke, and the sham Russian presidential elections held there four years later were not a coincidence. Both of these illegitimate acts were cynical attempts by the Kremlin to legitimize Putin's illegal attempt at a land grab.
Thomas-Greenfield said that today, "Russia's tactic of holding sham elections in Ukraine's occupied territories is, in fact, a pattern."
The diplomat stressed that the United States would never recognize the Russian Federation's claim to any of Ukraine's sovereign territory.
"And we unequivocally condemn Russia’s continued occupation of parts of Ukraine," the ambassador added.
She called on the international community to join the U.S. in imposing costs on those responsible for organizing and holding these sham elections in Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine. Thomas-Greenfield also called on so-called "election observers" to resist exploitation and refrain from legitimizing this process.
"Anyone propped up by the Kremlin to lend a flimsy veneer of legitimacy is simply a pawn in their game," she said.
