Early Thursday, the Supreme Council of Crimea voted to become part of the Russian Federation and to speed up a referendum on annexation. The vote is now scheduled to take place on March 16 instead of March 30, but the council's vice chairman said the ruling means that Crimea is part of Russia "from today," The Guardian's Shaun Walker reports. In response, members of the Russian State Duma said they are prepared to consider annexation as early as next week. Just two days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was not considering any such action. No matter what Putin may say, Julia Ioffe writes, he's been wanting Crimea for a long, long time.

Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov said the Crimean government is "working under the barrel of a gun" and that the decision is illegitimate. Just hours prior to the Supreme Council vote, a Kiev district court ordered the detention of Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov and the council chairman.

The governing body of the Crimean Tatars, who have the most to lose from Russian annexation, said it does not recognize the referendum and encouraged all Crimeans to boycott preparations leading up to the March 16 vote.

The Guardian reports that the Crimean government is also working on how Crimea could adopt the ruble and "nationalize" Ukrainian property in the peninsula.

E.U. leaders held an emergency session on the crisis in Brussels on Thursday, which is unlikely to result in European sanctions on Russia. "The Germans in particular are about engagement rather than isolating the Russians. The Americans are talking about isolation but the Germans certainly do not want that. There’s much more at stake economically for the Germans," The Guardian's Ian Traynor reported from the scene. "Also, there’s a big fear of Russian retaliation if they go down the sanctions route. Russia can also hurt Europe, no doubt about it."