I wasn't aware they'd taken a vote on it.
In any case, out of the frying pan, & into the fire?
Yours is a lame excuse, not a legitimate justification.
There are legitimate legal / political processes for changing sovereign allegiance.
To deny that is to deny the sovereign legitimacy of the United States of America.
If Putin's intention was merely to acquire sovereign control over Crimea, Putin could have announced his intentions, held a Crimean referendum for it, and completed the transfer without U.N. objection.
But Putin wanted more than mere military territorial conquest.
Putin wanted to send a vivid message to the West.
And Putin's message is unmistakably clear.
- Under Vlad Putin's leadership, Russia will continue to be a bad@$$.
- We'll continue our military disruption in Ukraine.
- We'll continue our support for tyrants, including Syria's Assad.
- We'll continue waging cyber-warfare against the civilized world,
all because we'd rather antagonize than cooperate.