Russia could further escalate its conflict with Ukraine, proposing formal annexation of swathes of Ukrainian territory by backing separatists' referendum plans in areas of Ukraine its soldiers control.
The planned votes have been criticised by world leaders arriving in New York for a United Nations General Assembly meeting likely to be dominated by the war in Ukraine
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters at the UN on Tuesday:
"The Russians can do whatever they want. It will not change anything.
"Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say," he added on Twitter:
The Ukraine foreign minister thanked Australia for its unwavering support on Tuesday:
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington rejected "unequivocally" the proposed referenda.
The European Union and Canada also condemned the plan.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc and its member states would not recognise the outcome of the referendums and would consider further measures against Russia if the votes went ahead.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda both used the word "parody" to describe the planned votes.
If the referendum plan "wasn't so tragic it would be funny", Macron told reporters.
In what appeared to be choreographed requests, Russian-backed officials across 15 per cent of Ukrainian territory - an area about the size of Hungary or Portugal - lined up to request referendums on joining Russia.
The self-styled Donetsk (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republics (LPR), which Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent just before the invasion, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have asked for votes over less than 24 hours.
Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson officials said the referendums would take place in just days - from Friday, September 23, to Monday, September 27.
Some pro-Kremlin figures framed the referendums as an ultimatum to the West to accept Russian territorial gains or face an all-out war with a nuclear-armed foe.
Dmitry Medvedev, who served as Russian president from 2008 to 2012 and is now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, backed the referendums, which he said would change the path of Russian history and allow the Kremlin more options to defend what he said would become Russian territory. Medvedev posted on Telegram:
"Encroachment on to Russian territory is a crime which allows you to use all the forces of self-defence.
"This is why these referendums are so feared in Kyiv and the West."
The US and NATO allies backing Ukraine with weapons and other support said the plebiscites would be meaningless.
Reframing the fighting in occupied territory as an attack on Russia could give Moscow justification to mobilise its two million-strong military reserves.
Moscow has so far resisted such a move despite mounting losses in what it calls a limited "special military operation" rather than a war.
Sullivan said Washington was aware of reports Putin might be considering ordering a mobilisation, which Sullivan said would do nothing to undermine Ukraine's ability to push back Russian aggression.
Russia has declared capturing all of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces to be its main aim since its invasion forces were defeated in March on the outskirts of Kyiv.
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