Russia will accept elimination before they give up the Crimea. They have controlled it for over 200 years without any resistance from Kiev. They have a major port and naval base there and it is their ONLY warm water access to the world's oceans. It is a major part to their claim to be a global sea power!
Those facts continually get buried in the news reports about "Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine." Russia's attack on Ukraine was greatly provoked - AND, as Prez Trump has repeated (as has Putin): the war would never have happened had Trump been president... Remember the Cuban missile crisis?
The truth is deeply buried in western propaganda. I heard Maria Bartiromo interview the woman head of the EU Central Bank over the weekend. The woman quoted the old saw about having to defend western freedom and democracy in Ukraine. I couldn't believe that anyone could still believe that people don't know that Ukraine is a brutal autocracy that does not hold elections and suppresses all political opposition - as well as religious freedom.
This war has become a gold trophy for both sides and the stakes extend far beyond the Donbas and the Crimea. Frankly, it is a bit frightening!
Vladivostok doesn’t get any credit ....
Course it isn’t near Europe so everyone ignores it.