New York , money:
Deep economic and business ties between Russia and Europe leave the West with limited options for responding to the crisis in Ukraine.
The deployment of Russian troops in Crimea has drawn condemnation from Washington and Europe, along with talk of potential sanctions if diplomacy fails.
The United States has put trade and investment pact talks with Russia on hold, while Secretary of State John Kerry has talked about isolating Moscow through visa bans and freezing assets.
But European leaders, who meet Thursday to discuss the crisis, have been more circumspect, instead emphasizing the need for diplomacy and international mediation.
That's hardly surprising when you consider the extent to which the economies of the European Union and Russia are intertwined.
With the eurozone still emerging from its own crisis, European leaders will think long and hard about any measures that might put that recovery at risk.
"For now, the most likely outcome is some EU language stressing the real possibility of sanctions and potentially putting on hold talks on longer-term cooperation projects, while stopping short of actually imposing immediate restrictions on sensitive issues such as the mobility of capital, goods and people," noted analysts at Teneo Intelligence.
Related: Global stocks rebound as Ukraine fears ease
Russia is the EU's third-biggest trading partner after the U.S. and China. Trade in goods totaled a record 336 billion euros ($462 billion) in 2012, more than 10 times the volume between Russia and the U.S.
Add in exports of services, and the value of the Russia-EU relationship rises to $520 billion.
Russia is the EU's single-biggest supplier of energy. Oil and gas prices rose sharply Monday on fear of supply disruptions through Ukraine, which account for about half of Russian flows.
Deep economic and business ties between Russia and Europe leave the West with limited options for responding to the crisis in Ukraine.
The deployment of Russian troops in Crimea has drawn condemnation from Washington and Europe, along with talk of potential sanctions if diplomacy fails.
The United States has put trade and investment pact talks with Russia on hold, while Secretary of State John Kerry has talked about isolating Moscow through visa bans and freezing assets.
But European leaders, who meet Thursday to discuss the crisis, have been more circumspect, instead emphasizing the need for diplomacy and international mediation.
That's hardly surprising when you consider the extent to which the economies of the European Union and Russia are intertwined.
With the eurozone still emerging from its own crisis, European leaders will think long and hard about any measures that might put that recovery at risk.
"For now, the most likely outcome is some EU language stressing the real possibility of sanctions and potentially putting on hold talks on longer-term cooperation projects, while stopping short of actually imposing immediate restrictions on sensitive issues such as the mobility of capital, goods and people," noted analysts at Teneo Intelligence.
Related: Global stocks rebound as Ukraine fears ease
Russia is the EU's third-biggest trading partner after the U.S. and China. Trade in goods totaled a record 336 billion euros ($462 billion) in 2012, more than 10 times the volume between Russia and the U.S.
Add in exports of services, and the value of the Russia-EU relationship rises to $520 billion.
Russia is the EU's single-biggest supplier of energy. Oil and gas prices rose sharply Monday on fear of supply disruptions through Ukraine, which account for about half of Russian flows.
Vastaukset 1
Vanhimmat
Kun venäjäjä on saatu kyykkyyn ja aisoihin, vaikka pakotteilla jos kerran on tarvis. Sen jälkeen voi avustaa lisää Ukrainaa joka kärsii pakotteista. Ukrainaa ei pidä unohtaa senkään jälkeen. Lisää vain pakotteita jos on tarvetta. Ukrainaa pitää auttaa kaikin tavoin, auttaahan Venäjäkin Ukrainaa jopa omilla asevoimillaan jota on kenenkään turha kiistää, koska niin moni jo on nähnyt sen läheltä. Turhaa spekulointia uutisissa päivästä toiseen. Asia on tiedetty jo kauanaikaa sitten, kertoo Venäjä mitä hyvänsä.