PUBLISHED ONMarch 18, 2014 12:28 PM
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin and two Crimean leaders signed a treaty on Tuesday on making the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula a part of Russia.
The signing in the Kremlin came two days after Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia in a referendum condemned by the Ukrainian government, the United States and the European Union as illegitimate.
Crimea's accession still requires the approval of Russian parliament, parliamentary officials say.