Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Kremlin-backed officials in Ukraine appealed to President Vladimir Putin Wednesday to annex the regions under their control, after the territories held votes denounced by Kyiv and the West as a “sham”. Ukraine called on the EU to hit Russia with more sanctions and NATO to send more weapons to the frontline after the Kremlin-installed officials rolled out the alleged results late Tuesday. The appeal came despite repeated warnings from Moscow that it could use its nuclear arsenal to defend the territories from a Ukrainian counter-offensive that has wrested back swathes of …