I see. It was kind of Ukraine’s choice, but US and UK saying they’d have Ukraine’s back probably tipped the scales significantly. I understand why Putin wouldn’t want such a close neighbor being a NATO member, and preemptively laid claim to the territory and started a war that (surprise, surprise) US and UK don’t like financing. Still, I think Putin might not have been so bold if Trump wasn’t such a fanboy and there had been some actual repurcussions for Crimea under Obama.