Yes, even if they didn't make it into the EU, Putin's loss of political cronies at the highest level of government is dangerous for him, he has talked about the

Yes, even if they didn't make it into the EU, Putin's loss of political cronies at the highest level of government is dangerous for him, he has talked about the end of the Soviet Union being a tragedy so I wouldn't be so sure he doesn't want to re-unite the countries, and totally agree on the ports (plus it was insanely popular domestically, at least at first to annex Crimea)