Putin's statements on Ukraine war 'totally inadmissible': Spanish premier

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declarations as “totally inadmissible.”

Sanchez also “categorically condemned” the referenda planned in occupied areas of Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Putin announced a partial mobilization of around 300,000 Russians with military experience to fight in Ukraine, and alluded to using nuclear weapons to protect Russia from Western aggression.

“We know we are now in a more critical phase of the war, in which the aggressor realizes he's losing,” Sanchez said in New York at a forum for Latin America, Spain and the US.

He said the referenda in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine represent “a new violation of international law.”

“The international community will never recognize the results of the referendums,” he added.

Given this “new phase” of the war, Sanchez stressed that the need for unity among world democracies and Europe has never been greater.

“The possibility of Russia fully cutting off all energy supplies is real, as it comes from the will of an autocrat that wants to transform energy into a weapon of war to blackmail the world, and Europe in particular,” he added.

“We need to come up with contingency plans so we can respond to any situation.”​​​​​​​