Crimea -- Russia v/s The West

So, Germany has categorically announced the ‘plan’.

Germany’s goal remains to restore the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday, a year after Crimea’s annexation by Russian forces.

Speaking after talks in Berlin with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, Merkel said the March 19, 2014, annexation of the peninsula was a violation of international law that “called the peaceful order in Europe into question.”…

USA will maintain pressure on Russia over Crimea

Washington (AFP) - Washington vowed Monday to keep sanctions on Moscow for the annexation of Crimea as long as the peninsula remains under Russian rule, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the occupation…

Russia says Crimea is not going anywhere

Russia said on Tuesday it would not hand back Crimea to Ukraine, despite warnings by the United States and European Union that they will not drop sanctions over the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation a year ago.

“There is no occupation of Crimea. Crimea is a region of the Russian Federation and of course the subject of our regions is not up for discussion,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call…

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Why is it that champions of human rights and democracy do not accept the results of referendum in Crimea? Why is the West adamant on forcing Putin out of Crimea with financial sanctions while Israel can keep occupied lands and get financial aid?

Most of the Crimeans do not wish to go back to Ukraine anyways!

The latest survey in Ukraine by the Pew Research Center, reveals 91% of Crimeans believe the recent referendum was free and fair and only 4% believe Ukraine is correct in not recognising the referendum results. The poll numbers underline that the official results of the Crimea referendum are a true reflection of the will of the Crimean people…

With regard to feelings toward Russia, Putin, the US and Obama, the pollsters say: “Crimean residents are almost universally positive toward Russia. At least nine-in-ten have confidence in Putin (93%) and say Russia is playing a positive role in Crimea (92%). Confidence in Obama is almost negligible at 4%, and just 2% think the U.S. is having a good influence on the way things are going on the Crimean peninsula…

also…

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-06/one-year-later-crimeans-prefer-russia

…Eighty-two percent of those polled said they fully supported Crimea’s inclusion in Russia, and another 11 percent expressed partial support. Only 4 percent spoke out against it…

Re: Crimea – Russia v/s The West

Eventually, everything boils down to oil…

BBC News - Vice President Joe Biden’s son joins Ukraine gas company

Burisma, a private oil and gas company in Ukraine, announced this week that it has appointed Hunter Biden, the youngest son of US Vice President Joe Biden, to its board of directors.

     The company, founded in 2002, is controlled by a former  energy official in the government of deposed Ukrainian President Viktor  Yanukovych. ...

Re: Crimea -- Russia v/s The West

West has realized it is not worth fighting for. Well, US has, Germany will come around eventually. Eastern Ukraine is part of Russia now.

It has always been about oil. Several gas pipelines pass through Ukraine that take Siberian oil to Western Europe. West wanted to pull Ukraine into its orbit of influence by enticing them with membership in NATO. But the plan back-fired when Ukrainians elected a Russia-leaning president in Yanokovych ( allegedly heavily rigged ). West overplayed their hand and instigated Orange revolution. The result is what we see now. Eastern Ukraine and hence about 50% of the pipelines are under Russian control. More than 6000 people died in that war in just about a year. World barely noticed it.

Germany depends on those Siberian oil imports, so they are still trying to fight it. US has less vested interest in it; maybe they will use it as a bargaining piece for future..say when they want to impose sanctions on Syria or Iran.