He is also a liar, when he claims that Crimea independence and its reintegration in the Russian Federation "are breaking the international law". There is no legal reason whatsoever to put sanctions on Russia.
The International Court of Justice, supreme arbiter in matters of international law, in 2010 ruled that the declaration of independence of Kosovo had been legal – and also, more generally, that throughout history, declarations of independence are never in conflict with international law. The judges said that the 20th century declarations of independence have been regarded as compatible and indeed supported by international law in the name of the principal of self-determination. So Crimea's declaration of independence is perfectly valid, as valid as it was the United States declaration of independence from England.
Bottom line...a bird in hand...Crimea went with Russia willingly. ..and I don’t buy for a minute, as some have attempted to say, it was at the end of a gun. International observers and many others attest to the fair reporting of the results....and even id you remove a percentage they still went with Russia.
I think Obama and the Eu are just plenty peeved they could do nothing to stop Crimea from what it ultimately chose to do.
All this legality will be worked behind the scenes for years perhaps....but clearly the Us/EU and Russia were all willing to break International Law from the beginning of this entire affair....They just choose to interpret it as they will and are doing now.