Changes

To balance or neutralize the [[extremist]] or [[neo-nazi]] power base in [[Western Ukraine]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]] transferred the Crimea from the Russian SSR to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1953 when he took power. Crimea contains the resort town of [[Yalta]], location of the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945, attended by [[Winston Churchill]], [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and [[Joseph Stalin]].

To balance or neutralize the [[extremist]] or [[neo-nazi]] power base in [[Western Ukraine]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]] transferred the Crimea from the Russian SSR to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1953 when he took power. Crimea contains the resort town of [[Yalta]], location of the [[Yalta Conference]] of February 1945, attended by [[Winston Churchill]], [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and [[Joseph 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=|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 with its large ethnic Russian minority 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 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 naval bases for a finite time period.