Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties on Friday to illegally annex more occupied Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of his seven-month invasion. Putin said the four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – are now “Russian forever”. In a rhetoric-filled speech, Putin vowed to protect the newly annexed areas of Ukraine by “all available means,” a nuclear-backed threat at a Kremlin signing ceremony where he also railed furiously at the West, accusing them of seeking Russia’s destruction. While Putin urged Ukraine to sit down for peace talks he also insis…