<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The article studies the role of energy resources in the annexation of Crimea by the Russian government. Russian justification that this action was taken to protect Russian ethnicity, as declared with the “referendum”, can be challenged in the light of the realist balance of power concept. According to the research, Russia considered Ukraine’s improving relations with the West as a threat and tried to eliminate it with preemptive action, in order to reestablish regional balance of power with the West. The article finds that the energy factor had a significant role in this consideration but in a subtractive approach. More precisely, there were no major incentives for Russia to capture the Black Sea resources intrinsically, but these reserves were recognized as part of the main Ukrainian economic empowerment plan, particularly on the EU’s future energy market. Thus, Russia tried to block Ukraine’s access to them in line with a wedge strategy. Hence, the annexation can be considered as one part of Russian energy policy towards the EU and Russia’s goal to emasculate Ukraine’s natural gas transit role by constructing new pipelines such as Nord Stream and Turkish Stream, as the other part.</p><p>The study exemplifies how Ukraine’s strategic position has been significantly diminished from the energy perspective.</p></abstract>

The article studies the role of energy resources in the annexation of Crimea by the Russian government. Russian justification that this action was taken to protect Russian ethnicity, as declared with the “referendum”, can be challenged in the light of the realist balance of power concept. According to the research, Russia considered Ukraine’s improving relations with the West as a threat and tried to eliminate it with preemptive action, in order to reestablish regional balance of power with the West. The article finds that the energy factor had a significant role in this consideration but in a subtractive approach. More precisely, there were no major incentives for Russia to capture the Black Sea resources intrinsically, but these reserves were recognized as part of the main Ukrainian economic empowerment plan, particularly on the EU’s future energy market. Thus, Russia tried to block Ukraine’s access to them in line with a wedge strategy. Hence, the annexation can be considered as one part of Russian energy policy towards the EU and Russia’s goal to emasculate Ukraine’s natural gas transit role by constructing new pipelines such as Nord Stream and Turkish Stream, as the other part.The study exemplifies how Ukraine’s strategic position has been significantly diminished from the energy perspective.

The Annexation of Crimea: A Realist Look from the Energy Resources Perspective

TalTech Journal of European Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The Annexation of Crimea: A Realist Look from the Energy Resources Perspective"}

The article studies the role of energy resources in the annexation of Crimea by the Russian government. Russian justification that this action was taken to...

The Annexation of Crimea: A Realist Look from the Energy Resources Perspective

Published Online: Dec 21, 2019

Page range: 148 - 165

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bjes-2019-0027

Keywords
balance of power, Black Sea energy resources, Crimea annexation, Russia, Ukraine

© 2019 Javad Keypour et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Annexation of Crimea: A Realist Look from the Energy Resources Perspective

Published Online: Dec 21, 2019

Page range: 148 - 165

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bjes-2019-0027

Keywordsbalance of power, Black Sea energy resources, Crimea annexation, Russia, Ukraine

© 2019 Javad Keypour et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
balance of power, Black Sea energy resources, Crimea annexation, Russia, Ukraine