Moscow is "not likely" to annex Crimea. "Russia is not considering the option to adjoin Crimea. Only the citizens may and should decide on their future in the conditions of free expression of will and security," Putin said.
Takeaway: Crimean independence, similar to that enjoyed by the Georgian breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is very much on the table.
Take it however you like it - Crimea is ours and no one else's business. How we run Crimea is none of your concern. Period.
Russia has been paranoid for several hundred years. That’s why they have always surrounded themselves with buffer states. The Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact arangement was not new. Kerry was stupid to have threatened Putin, given that the U.S. had nothing to back up his statements and the EU has made itself dependent upon Russia for natural gas. No military leverage. No economic leverage. No moral leverage.