• An EU summit ended with an agreement on small steps in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, and a warning that sanctions could follow “if Russia does not change course.”
• EU leaders agreed to suspend negotiations on a more liberal visa regime for Russians; stop work on a new EU-Russian comprehensive relations deal; and stop preparations for the G8 summit in Sochi in June.
• US secretary of state John Kerry gave Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov a rundown of the EU-US position for him to take to the Russian president, Kerry said following a meeting in Rome.
• The EU froze the assets of 18 Ukrainian citizens. The United States erected a legal framework to impose visa restrictions on unnamed Russian officials. The US House of Representatives voted for $1bn in loan guarantees for Ukraine.
• The Crimean parliament voted to join the Russian Federation and to hold a referendum on 16 March to rubber-stamp the decision.
• Ukrainian, European and American leaders condemned the planned referendum. “The referendum “would violate the Ukrainian constitution and violate international law,” US president Barack Obama said.
• The Pentagon said it was sending 12 F-16 fighters and 300 military personnel to Poland for joint Nato training in addition to moving planes to Lithuania.
• Armed groups including troops in Russian military uniformturned international observers away from the Crimean border.
• Numerous countries have canceled plans to send government ministers and members of royal families to the opening of the winter Paralympic Games in Sochi on Friday.
