UN Secretary General António Guterres has strongly condemned Russia’s plans to annex Ukrainian territories, describing the move as legally worthless, transmits news agency MIA.

“Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned,” Guterres said in New York. He said that the process is not compatible with the “international legal framework” and that it represents a “dangerous escalation” of the war. “It has no place in the modern world. It must not be accepted.”

The Kremlin has announced that the four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine which held referendums derided internationally as a sham will be annexed by Russia on Friday.