EU Struggles for Common Russia Front Amid Crimea Tensions
By Daryna Krasnolutska Mar 19, 2014 11:02 AM ET
European leaders struggled to devise a unified response to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for annexing Crimea as tensions rose in the breakaway Black Sea region.
With Russian officials shrugging off visa bans and asset freezes, European Union leaders meeting tomorrow will seek to overcome differences on how to pressure Putin, who yesterday signed an accord starting Crimea’s accession to Russia. As Ukraine’s grip over the peninsula faded, its Navy chief was held and pro-Russian civilians seized its naval headquarters.
Last month’s ousting of Ukraine’s Moscow-backed president has plunged Russia and the West into their worst crisis in more than 20 years. While U.S. Vice President Joe Biden warned today that Russia faces growing political and economic isolation, the EU is finding it harder to formulate a retort because of potential risks to trade relationships involving its 28 nations.
“The heterogeneity of EU member states’ interests raises doubts within the Kremlin about how determined the EU will actually be,” Georg Zachmann, a fellow at the Brussels-based Bruegel research group, said in a blog post.
While British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to push European leaders to agree on additional measures against Russia when they meet March 20-21 in Brussels, others were less sure.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-19/russia-shrugs-off-sanctions-as-it-seals-claim-to-crimea.html