Despite talk of an ‘off ramp’ from the crisis, Crimea is already lost to Russia: Kyiv’s priority should be accommodating its Russophone citizens in Eastern Ukraine

Talks between the United States and Russia are being held in London over the situation in Crimea, with the region due to hold a referendum on Sunday that could see it secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Jim Hughes writes that the idea being put forward by the United States and the EU that the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) could be used as an ‘off ramp’ for Russia from the crisis is misguided. He notes that the OSCE lacks credibility in Russia and that it would now be politically impossible for Moscow to back track on Crimea. Rather, the new Ukrainian government’s priority should be to prevent violence from erupting in Eastern Ukraine by offering a policy of accommodation to its Russian speaking citizens.