Putin will annex four regions of Ukraine at ceremony tomorrow

spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the signing ceremony will be held Friday.

According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders installed by Moscow of four Ukrainian regions will participate: Luhansk, Donjeck, Herson and Zaporije.

Pro-Russian officials from these regions said voters have backed the majority of votes with Russia.

But so-called referenda were rejected by Ukraine, Western governments and the United Nations, saying they are illegal under international law.

The four regions form an important land belt between Russia and the Crime Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The Kremlin's announcement came just hours after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyeen said the EU is working for a new package of sanctions against Russia.

“We do not accept false referenda and any kind of annexation in Ukraine. We are determined to make the Kremlin pay the price for this further escalation [of the situation]”, von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.

The proposed eighth package of sanctions includes further import bans on Russian products, which will deprive Moscow of 7 billion euros in revenue.

The White House, on the other hand, said the US would never recognise Russia's efforts to annex parts of Ukraine.

She, as well, said she is preparing new economic sanctions against Moscow, which would impose a <x0 ... heavy economic costo for Russia”.

“We will never recognise this illegal attempt to annex”, White House Media Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre told reporters.