Now it looks like Putin has his sights set on East Ukraine:

[Cali_Democrat]

East Ukraine 'Lawlessness' Condemned By Russian Foreign Ministry
Posted: 03/10/2014 6:19 am EDT

MOSCOW, March 10 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday it was outraged by lawlessness in eastern Ukraine, blaming the far-right paramilitary movement Right Sector for "conniving" with the new government in Kiev.

In its latest salvo in a propaganda war over Ukraine, in which the United States has issued a list of what it calls 10 false claims by President Vladimir Putin, Russia accused the West of being silent over violence and detentions taking place there against Russian compatriots.

The ministry said in a statement masked men had opened fire on peaceful demonstrators in the eastern city of Kharkiv on March 8, wounding some.

It also said seven Russian journalists had been detained in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk, suggesting the new leaders and their Western allies were not committed to media freedoms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/east-ukraine-lawlessness-russian-foreign-ministry_n_4933252.html

If Russia invades eastern Ukraine, they will have had no choice because of the "lawlessness" there....

[TwilightGardener]

1. Tee up heavier-duty sanctions, with teeth.

[BainsBane]

2. The Europeans haven't wanted to go along with sanctions

which is why the ones imposed so far are so lame.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Merkel and Cameron are warning of tougher sanctions (related to Crimea), so

maybe they realize that Putin's ambitions need to be curtailed. I am in favor of a stepped approach, put a steadily increasing squeeze on Russia as they keep acting out.

[okaawhatever]

4. ALL violence against journalists needs to be stopped. That being said, Putin, you're looking a lot

like a pot right now and Right Sector is looking a lot like a kettle.

Right Sector is dangerous because neither side can control them and they have been gaining momentum since the fall of Yanukovych.

"Right Sector does not support Ukraine's entry into the European Union, which it views as "liberal totalitarianism" without God or proper values.[5][11] Yarosh describes the EU as a "bureaucratic monster" in Brussels".[11]

"Right Sector's official website states that its members fear the imperial ambitions of both Moscow and the West."[24]

Luckily:

In a poll conducted by the "Socis" research center from February 25 to March 4, 2014, Yarosh's possible candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections (planned for May 25, 2014) received the support of 1.6% of the people who were surveyed.[31]

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. Could you imagine how huge this thread would be if you switched the name Putin with Obama?

[HereSince1628]

6. This is Baine Capitol M.O. applied to nation states; destabilize, break-up, seize the value

dump what's left.

No surprise really. I expect most territory east of the lower Dnieper to fall into Russian control. I expect the entire coast, from Odessa to Kerch to fall into Russian control.

At present this can't be a proxy war. Russia isn't using a proxy and the West cannot hide it's hand via a proxy that provides deniability.
If we provide military support to Ukraine it's essentially direct confrontation with the Russian Federation.

I expect the West is looking at how to develop and l support an insurgency on Crimea.

[Jamaal510]

7. He won't stop

until they completely re-take all of Ukraine. I'm starting to wonder if they want to re-establish the Soviet Union.