Ukraine news latest: US will ‘never’ recognise Russia’s annexation attempts as Putin plans announcement in Moscow today

VLADIMIR Putin will annex four Russia-occupied regions of Ukraine at a Kremlin ceremony today after Russia claimed they won so-called referendums. The Russian leader will claim victory in the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia following sham referendums over recent days. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said: “In the Georgian Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace at 15:00 (1200 GMT) a signing ceremony will take place on the incorporation of the new territories into Russia.” This comes as the US President, Joe Biden, said the US will “never” recognise the results of the referendums. Mr Biden said: “The United States, I want to be very clear about this, will never, never, never recognise Russia’s claims on Ukraine sovereign territory.” Read our Ukraine-Russia live blog below for the latest updates…