Whither Crimea?

To the Editor:

Dimiter Kenarov asks us to accept Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea (“Ending Crimea’s Isolation,” Op-Ed, nytimes.com, Dec. 27). We should not.

In 2014 Russia invaded Crimea, part of sovereign Ukraine, sending in Russian soldiers in unmarked uniforms to occupy the peninsula. This was the first armed, cross-border invasion of one European country by another since World War II. President Vladimir V. Putin first denied sending the Russian Army into Crimea. He later admitted that he had lied. (He also denied sending the Russian military into the Donbass region, in southeastern Ukraine, and has tacitly admitted that he lied about that, too.)

The United States never recognized the Soviet annexation of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in World War II. It took more than 60 years, but the three Baltic countries are now members of the European Union and NATO. The West should never recognize the attempted annexation of Crimea.

As we did in the Second World War and during the Cold War, we should resist armed aggression against sovereign nations. We should maintain and toughen the economic sanctions in coordination with the European Union until Russia withdraws from Donbass and Crimea.

WILLIAM B. TAYLOR

Arlington, Va.

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