Crimea and President Vladimir Putin

President Vladimir Putin: President Vladimir Putin approved a draft bill that effectively set in motion the Russian Federations permanent absorption of the breakaway Ukrainian province, according to The Star. The action to codify Russias hold on Crimea came amid a flurry of new sanctions, with the United States, the European Union and Canada blacklisting a cluster of senior political figures in protest over Sundays gunpoint referendum in the southern Ukrainian peninsula and Shrugging off a fresh wave of western sanctions like so many mosquito bites, the Kremlin formalized Russias annexation of Crimea on Tuesday. Russias constitutional Court and the Kremlin-controlled parliament are expected to quickly endorse the move. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.