美国国务院首席副发言人韦丹·帕特尔表示……

帕特尔先生：[...]首先，美国正通过美国国际发展署（USAID）追加提供一笔3000万美元的人道主义援助，为自6月中旬起就受到季风强降雨造成的严重洪灾以及山体滑坡和冰湖溃决影响的巴基斯坦人民提供支持。

估计有3300万人因洪水受灾，洪水造成超过1100人死亡、1600多人受伤。此外，超过100万间房屋被损毁或破坏，还有近73.5万头牲畜——它们是重要的生计和食物来源——失踪。洪水还损坏了道路以及200多万英亩的农田。

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还有一事。根据美国政府的评估，莫斯科正准备在其控制下的乌克兰地区进行虚假的公投。我们预计俄罗斯将会操纵这些公投的结果从而谎称乌克兰人民想要加入俄罗斯。这出自俄罗斯对乌克兰主权、身份和历史进行攻击的剧本。

这些公投可能在未来几周举行。但是乌克兰、美国还有国际社会知道那个简单的真相——那就是乌克兰的一切现在并且也会永远属于乌克兰。无论克里姆林宫在乌克兰投入多少俄罗斯士兵或安插多少傀儡官员，都无法用武力改变主权乌克兰的国界。

克里姆林宫仍在进行准备，就赫尔松、扎波罗热，和所谓的顿涅茨克和卢甘斯克人民共和国加入俄罗斯组织虚假公投。俄罗斯领导人也已指示官员在哈尔科夫部分地区开始为公投做准备。这些虚假公投将试图为公然抢夺土地披上合法的外衣，而这种抢夺违反乌克兰宪法和国际法，包括联合国宪章，也有违欧洲安全与合作组织（OSCE）的原则。

在虚假公投中，毫无疑问，俄罗斯将开展政治宣传并散布虚假信息，伪造投票率，并夸大据称赞成加入俄罗斯的票数比例。我们要明确地说：克里姆林宫任何声称乌克兰人希望以某种方式加入俄罗斯的说法都是谎言。民调显示只有3%的乌克兰人表示愿意乌克兰加入俄罗斯主导的欧亚关税同盟， 而九成乌克兰人希望乌克兰加入欧盟。在接下来几周和几个月里揭穿并反制这些虚假信息将十分关键。我们预计克里姆林宫当局会预先决定好公投结果。

乌克兰人民和世界不会被这一拙劣的程序所愚弄。我们与乌克兰人民以及他们由民主选举产生的政府站在一起。

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MR PATEL: [...] So first, the United States, through USAID, is providing an additional $30 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people affected by severe flooding in Pakistan resulting from heavy monsoon rains, as well as landslides and glacial lake outbursts, since mid-June.

The flooding has affected an estimated 33 million people and resulted in more than 1,100 deaths and more than 1,600 injuries. In addition, more than one million homes have been damaged or destroyed, and nearly 735,000 livestock – a major source of livelihood and food – have been lost, and the flooding has damaged roads and more than two million acres of agricultural land.

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One more thing. The U.S. Government has assessed that Moscow is preparing to stage sham referenda in areas of Ukraine under its control. We expect Russia to manipulate the results of these referenda in order to falsely claim that the Ukrainian people want to join Russia. This is a part of Russia’s playbook to attack the sovereignty, identity, and history of Ukraine.

These referenda could take place in the coming weeks.  But Ukraine, the United States, and the international community know the simple truth – that all of Ukraine is and will always remain Ukraine. No matter how many Russians soldiers or puppet officials might be installed there, the Kremlin cannot change the borders of sovereign Ukraine by force.

The Kremlin continues to prepare to hold sham referenda on joining Russia in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic. Russian leadership has instructed officials to begin preparing to hold a sham referendum in parts of Kharkiv as well. These sham referenda will attempt to give a veneer of legitimacy to a blatant land grab that would violate the Ukrainian constitution and international law, including the UN Charter, and contravene principles of the OSCE.

As part of the sham referenda, Russia will undoubtedly employ propaganda and disinformation campaigns, falsify voter turnout, and exaggerate the percentage of those who supposedly voted in favor of joining Russia. We want to be clear: Any claim by the Kremlin that the Ukrainian people somehow want to join Russia is a lie. Polling shows that just three percent of Ukrainians say that they would like Ukraine to be a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union, and 90 percent want Ukraine to become a member state of the EU. It will be critical to call out and counter this disinformation in the weeks and months ahead. We expect the results to be predetermined by Kremlin authorities.

The people of Ukraine and the world will not be fooled by this mockery of a process. We stand by the people of Ukraine and their democratically elected government.

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