I agree to a point Fox. I think Crimea is a means-to-an-end, rather than the end itself. To my mind, Putin is looking to reassert Russia's dominance of the region and to check NATO's/EU's expansionism into Eastern Europe - that's the goal, and the Crimea just gives him an opportinuty to achieve a part of that. Holding on to Crimea also teaches Ukraine (and anyone else) a lesson not to 'mess' with him/Russia.