text: Acceptance is irrelevant unless you have boots on the ground. The Eastern Ukraine is fully integrated into the Russian economy and governance. You may wish to take a look at the percentage of the area's population which speaks Russian as a first language. It was colonized before the Soviet Union fell.
  
  Putin was encouraged by the lack of preparation of the United States and the then administration's lack of action elsewhere.
  
  It is now a "done deal".