Putin, Georgia and Crimea

Vladimir Putin, president from 2000, restored central control after the turbulent 1990s, helped by rising oil prices. In a 2007 speech in Munich he denounced US dominance and NATO enlargement, signaling a sharper Russian stance. In August 2008, after Georgia launched an offensive to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Russian forces poured in, defeating Georgia within five days, and Moscow then recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent.

An EU-commissioned report found Georgia began the fighting but that Russia's response went far beyond self-defense. In 2014, after protests in Kyiv toppled pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, Russian troops without insignia seized Crimea, and a hastily organized referendum preceded its annexation. Russia also backed armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow argued it was protecting Russian speakers and resisting Western encroachment; a majority of the UN General Assembly voted to affirm Ukraine's territorial integrity, and Western states imposed sanctions. These events showed that borders in post-Soviet Europe could again be changed by force.