Europe imposes first round of sanctions on Crimean, Russia officials
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-european-union-russia-sanctions-20140317,0,3436623.story
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton takes reporters' questions before a meeting in Brussels.
Europe imposes first round of sanctions on Crimean, Russia officials
By Henry Chu This post has been updated, as indicated below.
March 17, 2014, 5:41 a.m.
LONDON Europes top diplomats began huddling in Brussels on Monday to finalize sanctions on individuals leading the drive to split Crimea off from Ukraine and deliver it to Russia. The EU effort is likely to increase tensions with Moscow.
Foreign ministers from the 28 nations of the European Union say they are united in condemning Sundays secession vote in Crimea as illegal, invalid and worthy of a strong riposte. That response will start with travel bans and asset freezes on people who the EU believes facilitated Russias military incursion into the Crimean peninsula and expedited the referendum on breaking away from Ukraine.
The blacklist is likely to include several dozen officials in Crimeas Russian-backed regional government and in Moscow itself, though President Vladimir Putins name is not expected to appear on the list.
(Updated, 6:25 a.m. PDT March 17: A few hours after their meeting in Brussels began, the EU foreign ministers announced that they had imposed the travel restrictions and asset freezes on 21 Crimean and Russian officials. The names were not immediately released.)