ABSTRACT
On March 18, 2014, Russia's president Vladimir Putin signed legislation legalizing his annexation of Crimea. Crimea was occupied by pro-Russian forces during the 2013–2014 revolt that demanded the reversal of the decision by Ukraine's president regarding the country's movement toward closer ties with the West and instead signed a trade agreement with Moscow. Ukraine shares a long border with the Russian Federation and Russian ally Belarus, with Moldavia and the European Union (EU) member states of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Russian possession of Crimea is not something new. Russia's armies of serfs under Catherine the Great added Crimea to the Russian Empire in 1783. Ukraine and Crimea have long been important to Russia. Russia's 2014 little war with Ukraine after annexation of Crimea did not erode into a full-scale shooting war. Putin's strategy for driving Ukraine away from the West and back under the protective umbrella of Russia also includes economic weapons.
