Well you are partially correct. Putin wants the Crimea. He’s probably not willing to fight the protracted war of attrition the Ukranians will put up if it comes to that.
The other reason is the same reason Putin settled for South Ossetia and did not take all of Georgia. He wants to be a player in the West. Its the only way forward for Russia. Sarkozy flew over to Moscow and put it to him during the Georgia incident. Putin wanted to march through Georgia and hang Saakashvili. Sarkozy talked him out of it. He told Putey he would be a paraiah to the western world and be shunned. If he tries to take all of the Ukraine he will be shunned by the West. Money from Western banks which he desparately needs will dry up. etc. etc. etc.
How upset are you that Russia controls S Ossetia and Georgia is still Georgia? Just watch this will all shake out. Its just embarrassing that we have a complete fool in the Whitehouse and he doesn’t know how to play international politics.
The way I see it - Crimea is to Russia as Pearl Harbor is to the U.S. They are no more likely to give up Crimea then we would be to give up Pearl Harbor. So that part is a done deal in my mind.
What’s more I think there will be an additional chunk of Eastern Ukraine that will fall into Russia’s tender embraces. And if the west can live with these two basic premises and money can continue to flow east and gas can continue to flow west, then the world will be the better for it.
But angrier heads may prevail and it may, in fact, turn out far worse than that.