Crimea and Russian National Minorities Elsewhere

Crimea is not the only territory outside the Russian Federation with a large number of ethnic Russians. Eastern Ukraine, northern Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Estonia, and Latvia all also have Russian national minorities as does Transnistria in Moldova. These minorities of course should have the same rights as other national minorities in the world with regards to not being subject to discrimination and being allowed to use and practice their language and traditions. They do not, however, have an intrinsic right to both live in their current places of residence and live under the rule of the Russian Federation. If they wish to live under the laws and administration of the Russian Federation then they must move there. They can not have Moscow's rule move to them. The violent readjustment of borders and partitioning of states to create more homogenized nation states has a very sordid history often associated with ethnic cleansing. So yes to full equality of rights to national minorities including Russians living in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and the Baltic states and no to Russian annexation of the territory of existing independent states.