Russia-Ukraine Conflict :S. President Joe Biden affirmed his “unwavering support” for Ukraine in a call to President Volodymyr Zelensky after Kiev accused Moscow of building up military forces on its border.
Analysis
- In 2014 Ukraine faced the greatest threat to its national security since the collapse of the Soviet Union, of which it had been part for most of the 20th century.
Crimea – A brief history behind Russia-Ukraine Conflict
- The Republic of Crimea, officially part of Ukraine, lies on a peninsula south of Ukraine between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
- It is separated from Russia to the east by the narrow Kerch Strait.
- Crimea is connected only to mainland Ukraine.
- In early 2014, Russian-backed forces seized control of the Crimean peninsula, and the territory, which has a Russian-speaking majority, voted to join Russia in a referendum that Ukraine and the West deem illegal.
- Pro-Russian separatists also seized control of large swathes of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April 2014, just after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
- Russia’s annexation of Crimea had triggered widespread condemnations, especially from Ukraine and the Western countries that called the move illegal.
- European countries and the U.S. have imposed sanctions on Russia after the Ukraine conflict broke out.