The Kremlin said on Wednesday that there was no contradiction between incorporating Ukrainian territories into Russia and military retreats, saying that Moscow would press ahead with plans to annex four Ukrainian regions.
"They will be with Russia forever and they will not be returned", Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"The given territories will be taken back," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He spoke as Moscow lost several key towns -- such as the rail hub of Lyman -- in eastern Ukraine, within the regions that it had annexed.
Russia has struggled to define the exact borders of the territory it is annexing, with Moscow's forces not in control of the entirety of any of them.
Peskov said Russia will "continue to consult with the population that will express the will to join Russia."
He said documents that Moscow signed last week annexing the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were clear.
"It's all in the legal wording," he said.
"The decree refers to the territory at the time of adoption."
Moscow does not control large parts of the Zaporizhzhia region, as well as the north of the Kherson region, and the north-west of the Donetsk region.
Peskov also said that Russia must be part of investigations into explosions last week in the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.
The operators of the two pipelines between Russia and Germany said they were unable to inspect the damaged sections because of restrictions imposed by Danish and Swedish authorities.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian involvement in investigating and examining the damage should be "mandatory".
"So far, from those news conferences which took place in Denmark and Sweden, we've heard disturbing statements that any cooperation with the Russian side is ruled out," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"We, obviously, will be waiting for some clarification on that as we believe that, definitely, participation of the Russian side in examining the damaged area and investigating what happened should be mandatory."
European governments and NATO say the two Nord Stream pipelines were attacked in an act of sabotage, which has further roiled global energy markets after months of tension and disrupted supplies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the United States and its allies, allegations rejected by Washington. Russia has rejected what it called "stupid" theories in the West that it sabotaged the pipelines itself.
The operators of the two pipelines between Russia and Germany have said they are currently unable to inspect the damaged sections because of restrictions imposed by Danish and Swedish authorities, in whose waters the blasts and leaks occurred.
Nord Stream 2 AG, Switzerland-based operator of the second pipeline, said on Tuesday it will examine the condition of the leaking pipelines once a police investigation of the "crime scene" is completed and a cordon is lifted.
Later on Tuesday, Nord Stream AG, operator of the older Nord Stream 1 pipeline, said it had been told by Danish authorities that receiving the necessary permits to carry out an inspection could take over 20 working days.
The Kremlin on Wednesday said that comments by a Pentagon official on Tuesday that Ukraine may use U.S.-supplied equipment to strike targets in Crimea were extremely dangerous, and evidence of direct U.S. involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the comments made by Laura Cooper, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs, were "extremely dangerous" and are "evidence of direct U.S. involvement in the conflict".
