YEREVAN. – The statement of Russia's upper house of parliament chairman Valentina Matviyenko that Crimea's joining Russia will be supported is a political leverage to West and new Ukrainian authorities, Armenian analyst believes.

Russia will not give in the Crimea, but will try to leave it under Russian protectorate within territorial integrity of Ukraine, at the same time extending the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Sergey Minasyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He noted that Crimea will remain a part of Ukraine in the form of autonomy with broader rights, as joining Russia will lead to more isolation.

“For Russia, it is important to see Ukraine not as a member of NATO, although Kremlin's actions may speed up country's joining the Alliance,” he emphasized.

The expert believes the fact that Russian troops did not go beyond the Crimea, shows that other scenario is not in the interests of Russia.

“Events related to Crimea were a successful military bluff on the part of Russia,” he resumed.

As reported earlier, the supreme council of Crimea decided to set referendum on the status of Crimea for March 16.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am