Russia completes Crimea annexation

Russia completes Crimea annexation

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin completed the annexation of Crimea today, signing the peninsula into Russia at nearly the same time his Ukrainian counterpart sealed a deal pulling his country closer into Europe’s orbit. Putin said he saw no need to further retaliate against U.S. sanctions, a newly conciliatory tone reflecting an apparent attempt to contain one of the worst crises in Russia’s relations with the West since the Cold War.