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No, I don't believe he is laughing about those charts at all. The less than ideal economic conditions facing Russia are often overlooked by those who think the Russian bear is charging ahead like never before, simply because they don't fit the exaggerated narrative of Russian strength. In reality, Russia is in trouble. The price of its main export has gone through the floor compared to a few years ago, budgets of all oil exporters have had to be adjusted downwards accordingly; sanctions from Europe are a major problem and the exchange rate makes Russia a cheap buy, but that doesn't help if there is a lack of interest outside key sectors of national importance. Russia is now considering partial sell-offs of assets it would prefer to keep, but times are getting tough.
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Russia under Putin (or anyone else, actually) would never voluntarily return Crimea. Nor will the majority-Russian peninsula willingly return to Ukraine. Unfortunately, for everyone, the current situation is unsustainable. Crimea will either have to be returned Ukraine, or Russia will be forced to take at least enough of Ukraine so that it is contiguous with the rest of Russia and (most importantly) regain Crimea's water supply. In such an event, they may very well take Odessa as well, and cut Ukraine completely off from the Black Sea. The primary flash point will be access to water resources, I think. Ukraine dammed the Dnipro River Canal as a result of the Russian annexation of Crimea. The water situation is unsustainable Crimea, and will be a major problem going forward.
If Ukraine's leaders were smart, they'd use this as a negotiating tool and seek comprise. But the last Ukrainian who a more pragmatic approach towards Crimea (Andrey Artemenko) was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship and branded a traitor.
Russia is building up troops along the Ukrainian border, and is pursuing closer corporation with Belarus to even further surround Ukraine. Although Lukashenko has been somewhat astonishingly pro-Ukrainian given his role and the power balance in his region, he will have little choice but to comply with Putin.
The situation is just an all-around mess, and things will almost certainly take a turn for the worse at some point in the future, before any stabilization occurs (regardless of whether the new status quo will be favorable to Ukraine or Russia).
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Crimea is staying a part of Russia and nothing will change it besides a major war. Whether the Americans want it or not, it's here to stay. Besides, the Russians who live there (and in Eastern Ukraine) are literally trying to escape from the Ukrainian puppet fascist government (backed by US) who are openly against Russians in their country. Russia originally did the good thing by saving Russians by dropping their tanks into the land itself. Good on them.
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Russia is not our equal.
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The Crimea can choose between any of these three possibilities: Option 1. Allow itself to be absorbed into the Ukraine. Option 2. Allow itself to be absorbed into Russia. Option 3. Seek UN recognition as a sovereign country.
Perhaps, Option 2 is the Crimea's best option: Russia have historical claims to exercise jurisdiction over the Crimea, and the people of the Crimea will enjoy a better economy under the Russian flag, than would they under the Ukrainian flag. As for option 3, The Crimea hasn't expressed an interest in exercising a will for self determination.
During the 19th Century, The Ottoman Turks, British, French and Sardinians formed an alliance against Czarist Russia, because they didn't want Russia to break the back of the Ottoman Empire, also the European Powers (in the Alliance) didn't want Russia to use the Crimea as a base of operations for establishing warm water ports; hence, there was a war over it, the Crimean War (1853 - 1856). It's time for Europe and America to build a friendly relationship with Russia (the USSR was put to rest in 1991), and its time to see things more clearly, without the paranoia.
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Regardless of the fact that the Crimean referendum was conducted under circumstances that violate international norms, it is entirely obvious that the results would have been the same under any other circumstances, especially post-Maidan. The people of Crimea mostly want to be a part of Russia. Geographically, however, the peninsula is more naturally dependent on Ukraine, and the adjacent parts of Ukraine most certainly are not pro-Russian. They are majority Ukrainian, and have become more anti-Russian than they once were as a consequence of Russia's aggression and hybrid war against Ukraine.
Russia is unable to provide Crimea with water without Ukraine's cooperation. Ukraine is not under any obligation to provide water to Crimea. Under international law, the annexing country is responsible for that. Crimea is depleting its water supply as we speak, as a direct consequence of the annexation and the Ukrainian damming of the Dnipro River Canal. This is a far bigger deal than what land "should" belong to some country on the basis of historical justifications, or even what the majority of people want. The Ukrainian government could solve the problem by recognizing Crimea as part of Russia and supplying it with water (in exchange for other concessions of course), but there's absolutely no indication they are willing to compromise on Crimea. Proposing such a thing is a great way to get branded a traitor or a Russian agent in Ukraine today.
The only thing for sure, then, is that Crimea will not remain Russian peninsula connected to Ukraine. Crimea will have to be physically connected to the country whose sovereignty it is under, whether Ukrainian or Russian. If the latter, I'm sure you can imagine what Russia may attempt to do to make it happen.
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