Is the world lurching towards another cold war when the US and Western Europe will be locked in a stalemate, this time with Russia instead of the United Soviet Socialist Republic?Ironically enough, it could be that the conflict will be engaged as Russia attempts to reassemble something of the federation of soviet states which 23 years ago scattered as the non-Russian territories gained political independence.
The decision by a vast majority of the electorate in Crimea to vote in a referendum for association with Russia was not the first occasion when there was obvious Russian aggression to divide a former soviet state. Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated well the referendum to have Crimea, with 60 per cent of its population being Russian and Russian-descended, legitimately (at least that is how the Russians are flagging it to the world) vote to be part of Russia.
Europe and the United States are insisting, however, that the vote is illegitimate and so too, as could be expected, the government in Ukraine is also saying the voting procedure was stacked. The Ukraine government has highlighted violence allegedly perpetrated by Russian troops and the presence even on election day of armed Russian army and police officers.The United States has immediately reacted by placing financial sanctions on individuals.
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