Crimea’s return to Russian Federation

This has raised questions whether the world is not witnessing a new cold war.  Russian President Vladimir Putin has already signed laws passed by parliament ratifying the union, over strenuous US and EU objection, accusing Russia of illegal land grab. US president Barack Obama has responded by leading some Western countries to impose a raft […]

This has raised questions whether the world is not witnessing a new cold war.  Russian President Vladimir Putin has already signed laws passed by parliament ratifying the union, over strenuous US and EU objection, accusing Russia of illegal land grab. US president Barack Obama has responded by leading some Western countries to impose a raft of targeted sanctions on a number of Russian and Crimean individuals, notably travel bans and financial restrictions. At a nuclear security summit in The Hague, Obama yesterday called for the suspension of Russia from the G8 group of countries. Russia too announced sanctions of its own, listing a number of Americans banned from travelling to Russia.
Crimea had been part of Russia for centuries until 1954, when the Soviet leader, Ukraine-born Nikita Khrushchev, inexplicably ceded it to Ukraine.
The backdrop to the return of Crimea to Russia was the months-long street protests in Ukraine that followed President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign an association agreement with the European Union, usually a precursor of full membership of the organization.  Protesters, obviously egged on by the West, drove Yanukovich who had been democratically elected in 2010, out of office. The anti-Russian stance of the interim government that took over in Kiev consisting of ultranationalists did not help matters either, sending alarm bells ringing in Moscow. Moreover, the interim government signed a political agreement with the EU signalling the ultimate aim of full membership.
Russia is unlikely to be adversely affected by the measures announced by the West. Sanctions are a double edged sword that could hurt the West as well.  Understandably, the EU has been more restrained in its response, given the close trading links between Russia and some of its members, especially Germany. One third of Europe’s gas needs come from Russia.
 Russia has long been suspicious of the eastward expansion of the Western military alliance, NATO.  In 2008, Russia intervened in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to prevent both territories from being incorporated into Georgia, a former Soviet republic and, under President Mikhail Saakashvilli, a close ally of the West.
Much has been made of the fact that Russia signed the Budapest Agreement of 1994 underscoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity. But that treaty had been signed by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s government in the uncertain days that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, described by Putin as ‘’the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century.’’ Putin denounced the agreement saying Russia was not just robbed; it was plundered”.
With Russian troops reportedly massing on the border with Ukraine there are fears that they may go further and incorporate the predominantly Russian speaking people of south-eastern Ukraine. Russia said it has no such designs. Russia’s adamant stand over Crimea has perhaps more than any other incident since the collapse of the Soviet Union heralded the end of America’s dominance as the global policeman. But this should not come at the expense of global peace.
The intercontinental diplomatic rift that the Crimea issue has spurned should not be allowed to escalate further. Western attempts to demonise Putin could backfire. The Obama administration should heed Henry Kissinger’s wise counsel that the US must consider the vital interest of Russia in resolving the crisis in Ukraine by making the latter a neutral country not beholden to either east or west; that Ukraine should not become a member of NATO.
The rapprochement between the US and Russia, following President Obama’s decision to press the ‘reset button’ in relations with Moscow may have suffered a major setback over the Crimea issue. But it would be a grievous mistake for Obama to push too much in his surprising but ill-advised diplomatic campaign to isolate Putin. There a number of international issues that only a close cooperation with Moscow would bring about any meaningful resolution. Some of these are ongoing efforts to come to agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme, the war in Syria, and even the nuclear security issue that he has been personally promoting.