Is Putin’s attempt to annex the Crimea only the beginning of his imperial ambitions?

Putin Is Launching a New Version of the Evil Empire. What the U.S. Needs to Do Now.

by Katrina Trinko

Today Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that he would make Crimea officially part of Russia.

Crimea, which is currently part of Ukraine, had a forced referendum Saturday.

“Vladimir Putin is launching a new version of the evil empire that Ronald Reagan resisted decades earlier,” observes Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. “The United States and the free world must resist Putin’s ugly power grab.”

“Putin’s attempt to annex the Crimea is only the beginning of his imperial ambitions,” Gardiner warned. “This is likely a precursor to Russia seizing the whole of Ukraine. If Putin succeeds in taking the Ukraine, he will have his eyes set on the Baltic states as his next likely conquest.”

“Crimea has always been an integral part of Russia in the hearts and minds of people,” Putin told Russian politicians today, according to the New York Times. “That faith has been preserved and passed on from generation to generation.”

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Read more: blog.heritage.org