This was a day of historic signatures.  In Moscow, President Putin signed a law formally making the Crimea part of Russia.  In Brussels, Ukraine's interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, signed a portion of Ukraine's Association Agreement with the European Union.  This is the agreement that Ukraine's former president, Viktor Yanukovych, spurned last November, setting in motion the angry spiral of events that is today's Ukraine Crisis.  The portion of the agreement signed today by Mr. Yatsenyuk and the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the UK's David Cameron contains the agreement's political provisions.

After paying tribute to those in Ukraine "who gave their life for freedom,"  Mr. Van Rompuy explained the immediate situation this way:

The plan is to sign the trade section of the agreement after Ukraine's presidential election on May 25.  Not all of the trade actions have been put on hold, however.  Again, quoting Herman Van Rompuy:

Aside from the now accomplished grab for the Crimea, it is not entirely clear what Russia's objectives are at this point.  Mr. Yatsenyuk's statement of Ukraine's goals needs no elaboration.  As for the EU and the U.S., the immediate goal would seem to be two-fold: to stabilize what has been a chaotic situation and to reinforce the creditability of Ukraine's aspirations.