I think so. Russia mainland spans 7500+ km coast to coast from Black sea to Bering strait, biggest mainland in the world. Russia don't need Crimea. Rather than hate, it should be love. If I were Putin I deport all 2.5 million Russian citizens from Crimea to Russian mainland by force and give Crimea back to Ukraine. What would you do about Crimea if you are Putin?
i'd arrange a diplomatic peaceful way for eastern Ukraine to join Russia as a member of it's new regional alliance, or some other form,
to gain a land corridor straight down from southern Russia to the Russian naval base (>100 years old) in Crimea.
with NATO's quick expansion eastward right onto Russia's entire western border,
i find this entirely reasonable for the Russians to insist on.
the Ukrainian leader, if i'm not mistaken, was a rich businessman in the candy industry before taking office.
this guy and his friends thought they could just join NATO like that and Russia would be fine with it, but they forgot to ask their own military guys what military guys over in Moscow would think of such a move.
and now all of Ukraine pays the price : a splitting up into a western-Ukraine allied with NATO and an eastern-Ukraine allied with Moscow, is entirely possible.
and if done with some fucking style by all politicians involved, especially the ones in western-Ukraine,
it can be a bloodless end to the build-up of tensions in Ukraine.
Taking land? The strong takes land from the weak. That is how the world works.
Usually. Not always, anymore.
Take the first gulf war to liberate Kuwait from Iraq's Saddam for example.
