Putin declares Crimea ‘sovereign and independent’


March 17, 2014 at 4:18p.m.

Putin declares Crimea ‘sovereign and independent’

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized Crimea as a “sovereign and independent country” today, just hours after the strategic Black Sea peninsula declared it had broken away from Ukraine. The moves triggered the toughest Western sanctions against Russia since the Cold War – with Washington and the European Union retaliating with asset freezes and travel bans and U.S. President Barack Obama vowing to “increase the cost” if the Kremlin does not back down.