Crimea is officially Russian. Putin says he's not interested in the rest of Ukraine, which is what Putin said initially about Crimea in his press conference.
Of course, it is possible that Putin is telling the truth. Unaccountably, Russians sometimes do that. It is not intentional, they just bird pump sometimes. But on this matter, we do have other of Putin's statements as reason to doubt. He told Condolezza Rice, introducing her, in 2004 I believe, to Viktor Yanukovych as a future president of Ukraine, "Ukraine is ours." So we have that.
Of course, it is possible that Putin is telling the truth. Unaccountably, Russians sometimes do that. It is not intentional, they just bird pump sometimes. But on this matter, we do have other of Putin's statements as reason to doubt. He told Condolezza Rice, introducing her, in 2004 I believe, to Viktor Yanukovych as a future president of Ukraine, "Ukraine is ours." So we have that.
