Cheers or Rage?

Imagine if a country simply took land from another country just because they thought they could...

Map of the Crimean Peninsula (source: maps-kid.com)

In the article, Ukraine Cries ‘Robbery’ as Russia Annexes Crimea from CNN.com by Matt Smith and Alla Eshchenko published on March 18, 2014, discusses the contrasting Ukrainian and Russian attitudes about According to Vladimir Putin, 97% of the residents of Crimea voted to separate the Crimean Peninsula from the Ukraine and join Russia.

Putin says that, "In our hearts, we know Crimea has always been an inalienable part of Russia."

Although Crimea was a part of the Ukraine, it had its own Parliament; however, the Ukrainian government in Kiev still had power over it. On the other hand, the Ukraine is not so happy about this.

The Prime Minister of the Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk claims that the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula is “a robbery on an international scale.”

Even though many that live in the Crimean Peninsula are Russians, it was still an important piece of land that belonged to the Ukraine. One reason why there is a strong Russian presence in the Crimean Peninsula is because Sevastopol is located there; the Russian Black Sea naval fleet is located there. Moreover, according to Putin, the 22,000 Russian troops “were already there” before any conflict. I don’t believe that these troops were casually stationed there. I definitely think that those troops were sent there to ensure the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
Regardless of the strong Russian presence, I absolutely believe that Russia did not have the right to annex the Crimean Peninsula. A country simply cannot take land from another country just because they think they can. It is very alarming that Russia was able to get away with this.

Russian Troops in Crimea (source: successimg.com)

Discussion Questions: Are Russia's actions justified in any way?
Should/how should the U.S. and other countries get involved in this?