12:18 AM
18 March 2014
Crimean officials said 97% of voters backed breaking away from Ukraine in a referendum on Sunday.
The EU and US have declared the vote illegal and imposed sanctions.
The measures affect 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Putin is due to address both houses of the Russian parliament at 15:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
Russian news website Gazeta.ru, quoting sources, says that after the speech, President Putin and the speaker of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, are expected to sign an agreement on Crimea's "entry into the Russian Federation".
Crimea was transferred from Russia to Ukraine while under Soviet rule in 1954 and much of its population is ethnic Russian.
The peninsula was taken over by pro-Russian forces in late February after Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia following months of protests.
The Kremlin has denied that the armed men are Russian soldiers, but concedes that MPs authorised the use of force after a formal plea for help from Mr Yanukovych.
President
Vladimir Putin has informed Russia's parliament formally of Crimea's
request to join the country, the first legislative step towards
absorbing the peninsula.
On Monday Mr Putin signed an order recognising Crimea as a sovereign state.Crimean officials said 97% of voters backed breaking away from Ukraine in a referendum on Sunday.
The EU and US have declared the vote illegal and imposed sanctions.
The measures affect 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Putin is due to address both houses of the Russian parliament at 15:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
Russian news website Gazeta.ru, quoting sources, says that after the speech, President Putin and the speaker of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, are expected to sign an agreement on Crimea's "entry into the Russian Federation".
Crimea was transferred from Russia to Ukraine while under Soviet rule in 1954 and much of its population is ethnic Russian.
The peninsula was taken over by pro-Russian forces in late February after Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia following months of protests.
The Kremlin has denied that the armed men are Russian soldiers, but concedes that MPs authorised the use of force after a formal plea for help from Mr Yanukovych.
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