Quote:
Originally Posted by Pointman
Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN has called for the immediate deployment of international observers to Crimea.
This might be exactly what Putin is looking for. There's no need to "annex" Crimea. Just letting Crimeans vote on their future under the watch of internation observers should be good enough. If there are fair and honest elections in Crimea, there's good chance they will vote to join Russia - simply because most are Russians and would like to live in rich country rather than in bankrupt unstable country.
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It's really not a free and fair vote with troops on your streets. A vote or not, Russia will get the Crimea. Putin just wants a thin veil of legitimacy to his actions violating sovereign borders. The vote would have happened without his interference given the demographics of the area and fragmented nature of the political situation. Putin's move is nothing more than insurance.