MOSCOW — With a historic sweep of his pen, President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty Tuesday to annexCrimea, describing the move as correcting past injustice and a necessary response to what he called Western encroachment upon Russia’s vital interests.

In an emotional 40-minute speech that was televised live from the Kremlin, Putin said “in people’s hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an integral part of Russia.”

He dismissed Western criticism of Sunday’s Crimean referendum — in which residents of the strategic Black Sea peninsula overwhelmingly backed breaking off from Ukraine and joining Russia — as a manifestation of the West’s double standards.

At the same time, the Russian leader said his nation didn’t want to move into other regions of Ukraine, saying “we don’t want division of Ukraine.”