Going to tell you again, Russia does NOT give one sh*t what the collective West/EU/US/UK/NATO/UN thinks concerning the Referenda or their ‘recognition’ of such, period!
Both Lavrov and Putin have made this clear this past week.
The gloves are off as it directly pertains to Putin, Lavrov, and Russia.
You all keep dicking around with them and you all going to find out real quickly when the hammer drops after the Referenda. Again, Putin and Lavrov both have been insinuating and indicating such..... but again, the suicidal egomaniacal psychopaths that head the US, UK, EU, NATO and the UN are going to keep gaslighting and playing their games, to their detriment. Be assured.
Kazakhstan says it won't recognise referendums in eastern Ukraine
That's fine, because we'll ignore what Russia thinks about those referenda as well.
Russia isn't going to drop nukes on a country to its direct west. That would poison it's own citizens, and render uninhabitable part of the exact territory it wishes to claim. Not to mention slaughtering the very ethnic Russians it claims to be protecting.