A game with no winners

Moves of Russia and US-led West on Crimea point to regional tension that should be settled by negotiations

Ukraine's Crimea region held a referendum on Sunday offering voters the choice between becoming a constituent part of the Russian Federation or remaining part of Ukraine. With the overwhelming majority of those who voted in favor of joining Russia, Crimea's parliament formally applied to join Russia on Monday, and Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by signing a decree recognizing Crimea as a sovereign independent state.

The contentious referendum was one of Russia's responses to the dismissal of the former Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovich and the overthrow of his government. The unexpected suspension of the proposed Association Agreement and free trade deal with the European Union by the Yanukovich administration in November provoked anti-government protests that eventually resulted in his ousting as president. A new interim government took power and indicated it would continue to pursue the integration process with the EU, which is in conflict with Putin's Eurasian Union ambition. Under the permission of the Russian State Duma, Russian troops entered Crimea and seized key installations and government buildings. Two weeks later, the Crimean parliament declared independence and decided to hold the referendum.

However, the referendum is controversial. Although Russia claims that the referendum is legal and not prohibited by international law, the Ukrainian government immediately rejected its legitimacy. The result of the referendum has also been rejected by the United States and the EU, who claim the referendum violates international law.

In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union issued a decree transferring the Crimean Oblast from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, marking the 300th anniversary of Ukraine becoming a part of Russia. Upon the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the majority of Ukraine's Crimean Oblast was in favor of Ukraine being an independent state and Crimea remaining in Ukraine.

Crimea's independence movement gathered momentum after 1992 when the Crimean parliament renamed the region the Republic of Crimea and proclaimed autonomy months later. The independence endeavors were rejected by the Ukrainian parliament in a legislative way. Since 1995, the political situation eased in Crimea, but it was not fully settled.