Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed documents to formally seize four Ukrainian territories partially occupied by Moscow, escalating his failing seven-month-old invasion of the country.
Several European countries, including Sweden, Poland, Germany, and Britain, joined the United States in immediately condemning the move as illegal on September 30, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the West to accept his country into NATO.
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The lavish signing ceremony to incorporate the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya regions into the Russian Federation took place in the Kremlin's opulent white-and-gold St. George’s Hall before hundreds of members of the country's political elite.
In a speech preceding the signing ceremony, Putin claimed the people of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya had "made their choice" to join Russia earlier this month during so-called referendums widely seen as having been conducted at the barrel of a gun.
He claimed they were now "citizens of Russia...forever."
However, the signing ceremony does not change anything. Russia has no way of enforcing the annexations unless it can win on the battlefield.
Putin hinted at the use of nuclear weapons to hold on to the four regions -- which appear to be slowly slipping out of his hands amid a successful counteroffensive by Ukraine -- claiming Russia would defend them "by all the means we possess."
U.S. President Joe Biden called the signing ceremony a "fraudulent attempt" to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory, which he said was a flagrant violation of international law.
He said in a statement that the United States will impose sanctions on those individuals and entities who provided political or economic support to the annexation drive.
"Make no mistake: These actions have no legitimacy. The United States will always honor Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders," Biden said.
Washington immediately imposed sanctions on hundreds of members of Russia's legislature, leaders of the country's financial and military infrastructure, and suppliers supporting Russia's military-industrial complex.
Putin claimed he was "ready" for peace talks with Ukraine but said the annexation of the four regions would not be on the table, a proposition unacceptable to Kyiv.
The four regions together with Crimea make up around 20 percent of Ukraine, including some of its most industrialized territory.
Following the signing ceremony, Zelenskiy announced that Ukraine had applied for accession to NATO under an accelerated procedure.
Zelenskiy said Putin's statements about occupied or partially occupied regions of Ukraine "joining Russia" were an attempt to steal what does not belong to Russia.
Ukraine's Counteroffensive
Putin rushed to hold the "sham" referendums and annexation ceremony to raise the stakes for the West amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has driven Moscow's forces back and raised the specter of a Russian defeat.
The West has been arming Ukraine with powerful weapons that have decimated Russian forces, forcing Putin to take the unpopular step of a partial mobilization.
By claiming to have annexed Ukrainian territory, Putin can try to justify his nuclear saber-rattling on the grounds that he is now defending "Russian land," experts have said.
Putin's threats may be "designed to make sure that the United States does not supply the more advanced weapons that Ukraine has persistently requested to conduct a strong, successful counteroffensive this fall," John Herbst, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003-2006 and an analyst at the Atlantic Council, said in a statement.
Putin's September 21 decision to call up 300,000 reservists has sparked protests across the country and driven hundreds of thousands of citizens to flee to neighboring countries.
WATCH: The seizure of the Ukrainian territories has been condemned around the world. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the treaties had "no legal value."
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Putin Signs 'Treaties' Formalizing Ukraine Land Grab Amid Global Condemnation
Putin tried to vindicate the mobilization and his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by claiming that Russia was effectively at war with a West that is seeking to "destroy" the country and its culture.
Addressing mobilized citizens and their families, Putin claimed the West had and continued to look for "new opportunities to pounce" on Russia and had "always dreamed" of breaking the country up driving its citizens into "poverty and extinction."
He claimed the West was now waging a "hybrid war" against Russia to maintain its global dominance and rob it of its wealth, equating it to an attempted colonization.
Analysts called Putin's speech "absurd," noting with irony that he was condemning colonization while committing an act of imperial aggression on a scale not seen in Europe since World War II.
They also pointed out that Putin's policies, rather than protecting citizens from poverty, have put Russia on a path of economic stagnation for years to come.