The BBC asks. The answer is yes. It also needs to reassess its ties with the United States.

One American reader on the BBC websites writes:

The contempt and dislike for America by Europeans continues to amaze me. So go right ahead and give Russia what it wants. First, S Ossetia and Abkhazia, then the Crimea.

The population of the Crimea is mosty Russian, and if they were to demonstrate their desire to rejoin Russia, then they should have our support.

Ukraine can't spout on about how evil the USSR is, and then hang on to territories that the soviet government moved into the Ukrainian SSR for administrative reasons. Ukraine having the Crimea is like France having the Tower of London because the EU commission moved it under French jurisdiction.

Russia will continue to approach your borders. And will hold you hostage with her oil an gas.

The last time I checked it was NATO that was busy approaching Russia's borders, I don't see any Russian bases in Ireland or France, do you? Have they ever made such aggressive moves? No.

Surely they're more likely to hold us hostage with their gas and oil if we start pissing them off? Oh wait, that defies the George Bush foreign policy guidelines.

Good luck to you! Its time for America to stay on our side of the Atlantic.

Good, you can start by getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan and dismantling your military bases in Europe and central Asia.

Britain, and the rest of the EU need to stop playing into the hands of US foreign policy, and recognise that Russia for hundreds of years been our friend, well aside from a few unpleasant bits, and British invasions of Russia. We should start by recognising the new independent countries of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and then leaving NATO, and promising we won't let Mr Miliband or Mr Cameron go parading around Eastern Europe talking BS.

We won't bring energy prices down while continuing to insult what should be our equal partner, nor will the situation improve while we let NATO build military bases right up to Russia's borders. Such aggressive action on NATO's part cannot be allowed to take place, and Britain should make a stand against it.

Even ignoring if its right or wrong for the west to carry out such an aggressive policy towards Russia. Which is wrong, and Russia does have the right to defend itself - just as we wouldn't permit Iranian bases in Ireland or France, neither should we expect them to put up with NATO and American bases in Ukraine, the Baltic states or Georgia. Ignoring all that, we have a lot more to gain from being Russia's friend then their enemy, good deals on gas and oil is just the start of it, unfortunately some people cannot even grasp that.