MOSCOW (Reuters) - Almost certainly orchestrated by Vladimir Putin, Crimea's appeal to join Russia pits the president directly against the West in a standoff that has increasingly high stakes and unpredictable consequences.
The vote by Crimea's parliament gives Putin the upper hand in the crisis over Ukraine, but risks antagonising pro-Western leaders in Kiev who have refused to resort to military action or fan tensions in Ukraine's Russian-speaking south and east.
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