"We basically have an illegitimate occupying regime at this point. We don't have popular sovereignty. There's no semblance of democracy. They basically do what they want, and people either accept it or they face persecution. Now, how far such an arrangement can last, your best is as good as mine, but my suspicion is that it can't for very long," Al Din told Sputnik, while visiting Donetsk, the capital city of the Donetsk people's Republic (DPR).
Military aid to Ukraine is "overwhelmingly unpopular" with US society, but the government pays no heed to the people's opinions, the US politician added.
"Some politicians promise that they gonna stop sending the aid because they know it's popular, but they won't," Al Din said.
DPR head Denis Pushilin has said that the Ukrainian conflict would come to an end if Western countries, mainly the US, stopped their financial support to the Ukrainian armed forces.