Changes

The Crimea was the location of the [[Crimean War]] of 1853-56 in which British, French, Sardinian and Turkish forces fought Russia in a war sparked by an abstruse dispute over the question of custodianship of the Holy Places in [[Jerusalem]]. When [[Lenin]] took power through revolution, he at first ceded Ukraine to [[Germany]] at the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]].  Later the [[Treaty of Versailles]] did not recognize the cessation.  Lenin then established a system of autonomous republics in which he separated Ukraine and [[Belarus]] from the former Russian Empire. After [[Nikita Khrushchev]] took power in 1953, he gave Crimea to Ukraine. The peninsula was also the location of heavy fighting during the [[Second World War]]. It contains the resort town of [[Yalta]], location of the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945, attended by [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]], Roosevelt and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]].

The Crimea was the location of the [[Crimean War]] of 1853-56 in which British, French, Sardinian and Turkish forces fought Russia in a war sparked by an abstruse dispute over the question of custodianship of the Holy Places in [[Jerusalem]]. When [[Lenin]] took power through revolution, he at first ceded Ukraine to [[Germany]] at the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]].  Later the [[Treaty of Versailles]] did not recognize the cessation.  Lenin then established a system of autonomous republics in which he separated Ukraine and [[Belarus]] from the former Russian Empire. After [[Nikita Khrushchev]] took power in 1953, he gave Crimea to Ukraine. The peninsula was also the location of heavy fighting during the [[Second World War]]. It contains the resort town of [[Yalta]], location of the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945, attended by [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]], Roosevelt and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]].

After the [[Soviet Union]] broke apart in 1991, Russia and Ukraine tried to find a relationship as separate countries.  In 1992, the Crimean Parliament voted to hold a referendum to declare independence, while the Russian Parliament voted to void the cession of Crimea to Ukraine.<ref name=Serge>{{cite news|last=Schmemann |first=Serge|title=Crimea Parliament Votes to Back Independence From Ukraine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/world/crimea-parliament-votes-to-back-independence-from-ukraine.html |accessdate=3 March 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 May 1992}}</ref><ref name=Serge2>{{cite news |last=Schmemann|first=Serge|title=Russia Votes to Void Cession of Crimea to Ukraine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/22/world/russia-votes-to-void-cession-of-crimea-to-ukraine.html |accessdate=|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 May 1992}}</ref>  However, Russia backed pro-Russian political leaders in Ukraine.   

After the [[Soviet Union]] broke apart in 1991, Russia and Ukraine tried to find a relationship as separate countries.  In 1992, the Crimean Parliament voted to hold a referendum to declare independence, while the Russian Parliament voted to void the cession of Crimea to Ukraine.<ref name=Serge>{{cite news|last=Schmemann |first=Serge|title=Crimea Parliament Votes to Back Independence From Ukraine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/world/crimea-parliament-votes-to-back-independence-from-ukraine.html |accessdate=|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 May 1992}}</ref><ref name=Serge2>{{cite news |last=Schmemann|first=Serge|title=Russia Votes to Void Cession of Crimea to Ukraine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/22/world/russia-votes-to-void-cession-of-crimea-to-ukraine.html |accessdate=|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 May 1992}}</ref>  However, Russia backed pro-Russian political leaders in Ukraine.   

The 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances was signed by then-Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma,  Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, and John Major. The agreement required that the signatories “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.”<ref>http://www.cfr.org/arms-control-disarmament-and-nonproliferation/budapest-memorandums-security-assurances-1994/p32484</ref>  Under the agreement, Russia agreed that Crimea was a part of Ukraine.  However, Russia and Crimea also signed a lease allowing Russia to retain existing Soviet naval bases for a finite time period.

The 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances was signed by then-Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma,  Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, and John Major. The agreement required that the signatories “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.”<ref>http://www.cfr.org/arms-control-disarmament-and-nonproliferation/budapest-memorandums-security-assurances-1994/p32484</ref>  Under the agreement, Russia agreed that Crimea was a part of Ukraine.  However, Russia and Crimea also signed a lease allowing Russia to retain existing Soviet naval bases for a finite time period.