Quote:
Originally Posted by FlameOn
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.
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Yes, a lot like insurance. Ukrainian government have caimed that they will ignore any such vote by Crimea and Donetsk. So I tend to believe that the goal of the troops is to prevent pro-goverment forces intervention into Crimea, freeze the current situation for some time and convince Obama et al, that Crimea should vote on its future. Then Putin may even withdraw troops and let EU/UN peacemakers to take over to give the vote more legit feel. Putin doesn't need troops to affect the results of the vote, he's likely going to win it anyway, he only needs troops to ensure that the vote will happen and will not be interfered with by Ukrainian governmate.