Before the Russian invasion, civil conflict broke out in Ukraine; the conflicting issue concerned Ukraine's new pro-Western leadership. Many were worried that Ukraine's passion for Western ideas would push the country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Currently, Ukraine is in the midst of a new crisis; this time, however, it is not a civil issue. Russia and Ukraine are in conflict over Crimea. This conflict is particularly troubling due to Crimea's history. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the essence of the conflict in a speech on Monday, March 17, when he said: "After the revolution, the Bolsheviks, for a number of reasons, may God judge them – added the Republic of Ukraine broad areas of the historic south of Russia. This was done without taking into account the ethnic composition of the population, and today these areas form the south-east of Ukraine. Then, in 1954, the decision was made to transfer the Crimean region to the Ukraine, along with Sevastopol, despite being a city subordinate to the trade unions. This was the personal initiative of the head of the communist party Nikita Khrushchev. What lies behind this decision of his – the desire to gain the support of the Ukrainian political establishment or atone for the mass repressions of the 1930s in Ukraine – that's for historians to figure out…” In this excerpt, Putin briefly describes the history of Crimea and Russia's frustration with Ukraine's pro-Western leadership. On March 18, one day after his speech, Putin announced the annexation of Crimea; two days after the “semi-autonomous country” approved a referendum separating it from Ukraine. This statement has the world restless, but why? To understand why you must first understand......half of the paper......e.g. The New York Times, March 20, 2014. Web. March 24, 2014. .Lister, Tim, Nina Dos Santos, and Victoria Butenko. "Crimea is getting married again, but the divorce will be complicated." CNN. Cable News Network, March 18, 2014. Web. March 20, 2014."NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization." BORN. Np, nd Web. March 23, 2014. .Polityuk, Pavel. “PM tells Ukrainians: no NATO membership, armed groups to disarm.” Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, March 18, 2014. Web. March 20, 2014. .Yeh, Linda. “The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Russia.” BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation, 21 March 2014. Web. 21 March. 2014. .