Annexation of Crimea and Sanctions

The 2014 Ukraine crisis which started by Russia pressuring Ukraine not to join the free trade agreement with the EU and ultimately led to the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula to the Russian Federation, flamed the tension between Russia and the West. The implications of the annexation and the mutual sanctions by Russia and the West resulted in downgrading relations to the lowest level in last 25 years. This situation conjured up the Cold War conflicts and rivalries. The main goal of this paper is to answer the question what are the consequences of annexation of Crimea by Russia and the subsequent sanctions for the actors involved in the 2014 Ukrainian crisis? The findings of the present article utilizing international political economy show that the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation and the following sanctions have had a host of negative consequences for Ukraine, Russia, the EU, the US, and the NATO in various dimensions.