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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Republicans may have helped Russia annex Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in a surprisingly sharp attack ahead of a test vote on a bill authorizing more U.S. sanctions on Russia and $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine. […] Reid’s charge comes despite widespread support among Republicans and Democrats in Congress for providing Ukraine with much-needed economic assistance and hitting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government with sanctions. …

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia announced on Monday that it was barring 13 Canadian officials, lawmakers and public figures in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Canada over Russia's annexation of Crimea. The Canadians prohibited from entering Russia include aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, members of parliament and the head of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Paul Grod, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "This step was taken in response to unacceptable actions by the Canadian side which have done serious damage to bilateral relations," the ministry said, adding that Canada "chose to ignore the free expression of will of...

resident Obama has ramped up his second round of economic and financial sanctions on Russia, and on Vladimir Putin in particular. Some of this is already working. But if anybody believes it will be easy to financially deflate Russia, they better think again. Russia holds $132 billion of U.S. Treasury securities. That's a big number, and it could be sold in the event of financial warfare. That won't kill the United States. But it will undoubtedly cause interest rates to rise. Would Putin spend it all? Who knows? His central bank just spent $50 billion to defend a sinking ruble,...

Sweeping through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this week, Joe Biden reassured all three that the United States' commitment to Article Five of the NATO treaty remains "solemn" and "iron clad." Article Five commits us to war if the territory of any of these tiny Baltic nations is violated by Russia. From World War II to the end of the Cold War, all three were Soviet republics. All three were on the other side of the Yalta line agreed to by FDR, and on the other side of the NATO red line, the Elbe River in Germany. No president would have...

Today, the US imposed more meaningless sanctions on Russia. Of course Russia responded in kind. In Europe, where far more is to be lost than gained from sanctions, bickering amongst suggests no meaningful escalations in sanctions. Here is a roundup of recent actions, counteractions, threats and counter-threats. Meaningless Additional US Sanctions The Financial Times reports US imposes sanctions on 20 more Russians. The US has announced sanctions on 20 more senior Russian individuals over Moscow’s takeover of Crimea and also singled out a bank which does business with the targeted individuals. Moscow responded by banning nine American officials from entry...

Vladimir Putin has mocked US sanctions imposed on Russia, saying he will open an account at US-sanctioned Rossiya Bank. During a meeting with the country's senior security officials he added that he won’t introduce a visa regime with Ukraine. Putin treated with irony the recent sanctions imposed on certain Russian lawmakers. “Yes, these are those so-called ‘polite people in camouflage with guns’,” ironically said Putin hinting at Western accusations that Russian soldiers have taken bases in Crimea. “Look at them, typical Moskals [pejorative term for Russians – ED.],” he added, pointing at US sanctioned prominent businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg,...

MOSCOW, March 21. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to open an account in Russian bank Rossiya which came under US sanctions. Putin has made a statement at a meeting of the Russian Security Council after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s report on introduction of US sanctions against Russia. “As far as I understand, this is a middle-size bank,” Putin noted. “I do not have an account there, but I will compulsorily open an account there on Monday,” he pledged. Putin also took with humour imposing of sanctions against concrete Russian citizens, state officials, some of which participated in the...

MOSCOW, March 21. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian bank Rossiya ('Russia') that came under Western sanctions is not related to events in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Friday. He instructed the Central Bank of Russia to give all necessary aid to this bank. Sanctions against bank Rossiya The US added to the black list another 20 Russian officials on 20 March. In addition, the USA included in the list the only legal entity – bank ‘Russia’ controlled by Yury Kovalchuk, arresting US-based assets of this crediting organization. On Friday, international payment systems Visa and MasterCard suddenly stopped service of cards...

Moscow is studying Washington's list of individuals against whom sanctions were imposed, and already puzzled by some of the names, Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said. "One can say straight away that we are extremely bewildered by the presence of some names on the list," Peskov said. "So far I cannot say what the reaction is of other people on the US list but Ivanov perceived the news with humor," the president's press secretary said. Ivanov spent 20-odd years serving in the KGB's First Main Directorate and later in the Russian External Intelligence Service, Peskov recalled. "As a result...

The western countries' sanctions against Russia that the EU and US officials are currently discussing as part of retaliation for Crimea' accession to Russia may threaten the interests of European business companies. Officials of the French companies DCNS and STX have already voiced concern about the likely collapse of the deal to deliver Mistral-class helicopter-carriers to the Russian Federation. Paris may give up the contract for building Mistral-class amphibious assault ships for Russia as part of the western countries' economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, a move that may lay off 600 workers, engaged in the project. Le Figaro also...

Our company implements the following sanctaions against US President Barak Obama and US Congress members: Barak Obama is not allowed to use toilet in our office. US Congressmen are not allowed to visit our canteen and our toilet. Barak Obama is not allowed to take bananas from the fridge. Our company implements sanctions against: - Barak Obama - John McCain - John Kerry - Catherine Ashton and Angela Merkel (sorry, dear). They cannot enter our office! SANCTIONS Barak Obama is not allowed to approach me closer than 40 meters

Former US presidential candidate Senator John McCain and Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner are among the nine Americans banned from Russia under sanctions imposed by Moscow. Russia announced sanctions against US officials in retaliation against US visa bans and asset freezes. White House Correspondent for CQ Roll Call Steven Dennis tweeted the full list of Americans who have been banned by Russia:

OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL Specially Designated Nationals List Update -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following individuals have been added to OFAC's SDN List: BUSHMIN, Evgeni Viktorovich (a.k.a. BUSHMIN, Evgeny; a.k.a. BUSHMIN, Yevgeny); DOB 10 Oct 1958; POB Lopatino, Sergachiisky Region, Russia; Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation; Chairman of the Council of the Federation Budget and Financial Markets Committee (individual) [UKRAINE2]. DZHABAROV, Vladimir Michailovich; DOB 29 Sep 1952; First Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation (individual) [UKRAINE2]. FURSENKO, Andrei Alexandrovich (a.k.a. FURSENKO, Andrei; a.k.a. FURSENKO, Andrey); DOB 17 Jul...

President Obama announced Thursday that he is imposing sanctions on additional senior Russian officials and others over the country's annexation of Crimea, warning that broader economic sanctions could be in store if Russia does not stand down. The president, speaking on the South Lawn of the White House, voiced concern that Russian military positioning could point to "further incursions" into southern and eastern Ukraine. He also issued an executive order giving the U.S. authority to impose sanctions on "key sectors of the Russian economy."

What is it about Western leaders from Neville Chamberlain to George W. Bush who want to find good in men of bad character? Acting as if he were endowed by special insight bestowed upon no one else, President George W. Bush declared in 2001 that he had looked Vladimir Putin in the eye and "was able to get a sense of his soul." According to the Daily Caller.com, in a 2010 interview with talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, Bush, who was promoting his book "Decision Points," was asked about his ability to see into the souls of men. The former...

WASHINGTON - Two things are clear in the crisis over Russia's effective seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula: Vladimir Putin scored a knockout in the first round and economic sanctions will not change what has become a fait accompli. Certainly not the restrained sanctions President Obama announced on Monday that were tantamount to a tap on the wrist in response to a brazen military takeover of a key province in a neighboring country. Obama had repeatedly warned that there would be very heavy costs imposed on Russia if Putin pursued his bid to annex Crimea. But the penalties that he...

PARIS -- There are fewer things more pathetic than watching someone take a running dive off a high board only to end in a spectacular belly flop and still think that they're scoring a perfect 10. That's U.S. President Barack Obama right now on the issue of sanctions against Russia. It's a worrying attitude that increasingly permeates Western culture. Europe and America supported a coup d'état against a democratically elected government and president in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, which in turn led to Russia backing a democratic vote March 16 in Crimea -- the southeast corner of the country...

A senior Russian diplomat says Moscow may change its stance in the Iranian nuclear talks amid tensions with the West. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted Wednesday as saying by the Interfax news agency that Russia didn’t want to use the Iranian nuclear talks to “raise stakes,” but may have to do so in response to the actions by the United States and the European Union. The statement is the most serious threat of retaliation by Moscow after the U.S. and the EU announced sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.

The State Duma has passed a motion suggesting that the US and EU extend the freshly introduced sanctions to all Russian MPs rather than a limited group of officials, defying western pressure just hours before Russia and Crimea signed a federation treaty. The motion was supported by a unanimous vote on Tuesday morning. It was prepared the day before by all four parliamentary parties after representatives of the United States and the European Union said they were slapping sanctions, such as visa bans and asset freezes, on a number of Russian officials who are seen as “key ideologists and architects”...

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin denied Tuesday that Russia was contemplating sanctions against U.S. and European officials to retaliate for banking and travel restrictions imposed on officials involved in staging Sunday's referendum in Crimea, in which voters overwhelmingly voted for joining Russia. The Foreign Ministry, however, said in a statement that Russia would retaliate in response to the sanctions, which targeted more than a dozen Russian and Ukrainian officials. Rogozin told journalists that the Russian government was not considering imposing sanctions against the U.S. and the European Union because it does not view the asset freezes and travel bans seriously.