It doesn\u2019t exactly look like Russia is planning on backing down regarding returning the Crimea to Russian control.<\/p>\n
Friday evening, Russian forces disarmed Ukrainian troops at a missile base, then occupied it<\/a>.\u00a0 The Ukrainian forces were reportedly surrounded and told to give up their weapons.\u00a0\u00a0 The Ukrainian troops present apparently complied with the ultimatum.<\/p>\n Russian forces also took over the main hospital in the Crimean capital of Simferopol.\u00a0 They were reportedly joined in doing so by personnel from pro-Russian local militias.<\/p>\n Prospects for a negotiated settlement don\u2019t appear too hopeful.\u00a0 The Russian government still recognizes the government of deposed Ukrainian President Yanukovych as the legitimate government for the Ukraine.\u00a0 Western nations generally recognize the interim Ukrainian government which ousted Yanukovych as the legitimate Ukrainian government.<\/p>\n Further:\u00a0 Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has indicated that current US proposals for resolving the crisis are not acceptable<\/a>, telling Russian President Putin that those proposals \u201cdo not suit us very much\u201d.\u00a0 Putin has also now publicly backed the proposed referendum regarding Crimea\u2019s separation from the Ukraine and return to Russian control scheduled for 16 March.<\/p>\n Finally, NATO has taken the step of beginning AWACS surveillance flights over Poland and Romania<\/a> to monitor the situation.\u00a0 What good \u2013 if any \u2013 those flights will do remains to be seen.<\/p>\n Looks like things could get rather interesting in about a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"