Crimea is on the Black Sea.
D’oh. Typing too fast.
I can’t even believe we are still having this argument. The whole failed foreign policy comes from Condolezza Rice’s view that the US does not recognize spheres of influence. Anyone with a map and a bit of sense would recognize that the Black Sea is a Russian lake and by the way, Turkey is not a reliable international partner, not that that should have been a factor in this utterly pointless display of geostrategic lunacy.