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Staying with the Crimean crisis,.. Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday
that Korea will not recognize President Putin's annexation of Crimea.
This echoes similar stances taken by other Western powers.
But why haven't the U.S. or EU moved forward with stronger sanctions against Russia?
Well, Western leaders want to send a clear message to the Kremlin, but are wary that
any damage inflicted on Moscow will negatively impact their own respective economies in the
process. It's this potential blow-back that President
Putin is likely betting on as he moves on Ukraine.
So far, the EU has frozen assets and imposed travel bans on 21 Russians and Ukrainians...
and the U.S. has imposed similar sanctions on eleven people.
At the moment, only politicians, officials, and military commanders have been targeted.
But this may change. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday
in Warsaw that Washington was committed to defending the security of its NATO allies
on Russia's borders, while vowing additional sanctions on Moscow.