Putin completes takeover signing Crimea to Russia

President Vladimir Putin completed the annexation of Crimea yesterday, signing the peninsula into Russia at nearly the same time his Ukrainian counterpart sealed a deal pulling his country closer to Europe.

Putin said he saw no need to further retaliate against US sanctions, a newly conciliatory tone reflecting an apparent attempt to contain one of the worst crises in Russia’s relations with the West since the Cold War.

Putin hailed the incorporation of Crimea into Russia as a “remarkable event”, before he signed the parliament bills into law in the Kremlin on Friday. He ordered fireworks in Moscow and Crimea.