A Malaysian airliner was brought down over eastern Ukraine, killing
all 295 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict
between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back
opposing sides.
Ukraine accused "terrorists" - fighters aiming to unite eastern
Ukraine with Russia - of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777
with a heavy, Soviet-era SA-11 ground-to-air missile as it flew from
Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Leaders of the rebel Donetsk People's Republic denied any
involvement, although around the same time their military commander said
his forces had downed a much smaller Ukrainian transport plane. It
would be their third such kill this week.
Visa bans, freezing assets, boycotts: There is no lack of suggestions of
how to tone down Russian aggression. But what good would sanctions do?
Politicians are growing increasingly skeptical. DW takes a look.
The European Union has said it is halting visa talks with Russia
following an emergency summit of the bloc's leaders where they discussed
ways to punish Russia for its recent exploits on the Crimean Peninsula.
If Russia continues to reject negotiations, further measures are to be
taken, which could entail economic sanctions.
MOSCOW, March 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov warned Washington on Friday against "hasty and reckless” steps
over the crisis in Ukraine that could harm Russia-US relations.
In a telephone call initiated by the American side, Lavrov told US
Secretary of State John Kerry that any sanctions against Russia “would
inevitably hit the United States like a boomerang.”
US President Barack Obama on Thursday announced the first set of
sanctions against Moscow to punish Russia for perceived violation of
Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Russia accused NATO on Wednesday of applying double standards and
“Cold War” stereotypes to Moscow after the Western alliance said it was
reviewing cooperation with Russia over tensions in Ukraine.
“This meeting proved that NATO still has a double standard policy. And
Cold War stereotypes are still applied towards Russia,” Russian’s envoy
Alexander Grushko told reporters after a meeting of NATO and Russian
officials to discuss Ukraine.
Earlier, NATO Secretary-General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that ambassadors for NATO’s 28 member states
decided after a meeting with their Russian counterpart to suspend plans
for a joint mission as well as all civilian and military meetings.
