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It's time for the United States and its European allies to raise or fold.
Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly called their bluff on Tuesday, announcing steps for
his country to annex the Crimean Peninsula from neighboring Ukraine.
President Barack Obama and European allies had warned such a move would bring tougher
sanctions and diplomatic isolation, but there was little immediate response Tuesday to Putin's
bold pronouncement in the Russian parliament. The White House announced that Obama invited
leaders of the G7 industrial powers to meet next week on the sidelines of a nuclear security
summit in the Netherlands to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
Presumably, such a gathering by Obama and his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan and Canada would consider scrapping their annual summit with Russia planned for
July in Sochi, and perhaps kicking Putin out of the G8 club altogether.
Both moves have been threatened, with the G7 nations already halting preparations for
the Sochi meeting. G8 summit in doubt?
White House spokesman Jay Carney strongly hinted Tuesday that it would get scrapped,
telling reporters that "preparations for that summit have been suspended, summits don't
occur without preparations" and "those preparations look unlikely to resume any time soon."
On Monday, Obama and the European Union imposed sanctions on specific Russian and Crimean
officials as part of steps intended to be easily expanded if necessary.
Carney said the moves already hurt the Russian economy and the ruble currency, and he indicated
further actions were coming. "You have seen some designations already and
there are more to come," he said of individuals cited for sanctions.
"I wouldn't, if I were you, invest in Russian equities right now unless you were going short,"
Carney advised, in reference to investors speculating on a losing venture.
However, Carney made clear that the U.S. approach focused for now on isolating Russia diplomatically
and economically. "This action -- the results of the referendum
and the attempts to annex a region of Ukraine illegally -- will never be recognized by the
United States" and the international community, he said, with "further actions, further provocations"
by Russia leading to "higher costs." Secretary of State John Kerry had a more reflective
take, telling a town hall-style meeting that the administration still hoped for a diplomatic
solution "but today was very confrontational and very triumphalist about something that
is a breach of international law, and I think people are deeply concerned about it."