World leaders focus on how to punish Russia over Ukraine

BRUSSELS (AP) — Shocked by Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to deploy troops to separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, world leaders moved quickly Tuesday to impose as forceful a response as possible in hopes of averting a full-blown war in Europe.

Germany made the first big move, taking steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow, but criticised by the US for increasing Europe's reliance on Russian energy supplies.

The rest of the European Union also put some of its cards on the table, saying its sanctions would take aim at several Russian officials, banks financing the Russian armed forces and include limiting Moscow's access to EU capital and financial markets.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went as far as naming five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals who will be hit with sanctions later Tuesday.

The West insisted Putin's bold moves in Ukraine violated countless international agreements and since diplomacy had failed, it was time to move towards action.

Western powers have long made clear the fate of Ukraine wasn't worth a direct military confrontation with Russia, and the potential of a world war, so sanctions were the only, limited, option to crystallise their anger.

“No lows too low, no lies too blatant, no red lines too red to cross,” Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in summing up the political disgust felt by nations from Europe to North America and the democracies hugging Russia's borders in Asia like Japan and South Korea.

However, Putin continued to knock the world off-kilter with a strategy where confusion about the true extent of an invasion, which would automatically kick in major sanctions, remained unclear and debatable.

Russia said it was sending what it deems “peacekeepers” into eastern Ukraine, but EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stressed they were “troops” on sovereign Ukrainian territory.

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