As the Russian national anthem played, Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty to make Crimea part of the Russian Federation, declaring: "In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia." Parliament is expected to begin ratifying the treaty within days. ...
"Don't believe those who try to frighten you with Russia and who scream that other regions will follow after Crimea," Putin said. "We do not want a partition of Ukraine."
One, I figured the theft would be formalized quickly.
Second, when Putin says he plans to conquer no more of Ukraine, you can bank that kind of guarantee! Yes sir! That's certainly a relief. Move along. Nothing to see.
Of course, you have to ignore the fact that taking Crimea is a partition of Ukraine.
UPDATE: Our Secretary of Flexibility chimes in after Putin says he won't advance into eastern Ukraine:
Any moves by Russia to march into eastern Ukraine "would be as egregious as any step that I can think of that would be taken by a country in today's world, particularly by a country like Russia where so much is at stake," Kerry [told a gathering of students at the State Department].
If we were a serious power that Putin felt he had to pay attention to, the egregious step would be the conquest of Crimea. A serious Secretary of State would have thought of the conquest of Crimea as something egregious.
But we don't have a serious secretary of state in service of a serious foreign policy as directed by a serious president. We have a Secretary of Flexibility--Mr. Gumby. Who is everything President Obama expects him to be.
If Putin has no intention of advancing into eastern Ukraine it is because his army is incapable of pulling that off without looking like a second-rate military--and not because Kerry has warned the Russians.
