:00:07. > :00:14.This is BBC World News today with me, Zeinab Badawi. Tit-for-tat,
:00:15. > :00:21.President Obama announces further sanctions against Russia and Moscow
:00:22. > :00:24.retaliates and imposes sanctions on leading American politicians and
:00:25. > :00:30.officials. EU leaders tough and rhetoric over Crimea. Will they back
:00:31. > :00:43.the words with actions? Mr Obama says he will work with the. We have
:00:44. > :00:47.been working harder to introduce more severe actions if Russia
:00:48. > :00:54.escalates. Gunmen storm a hotel in Kabul.
:00:55. > :01:00.Australia says it is the best lead so far. Could these satellite images
:01:01. > :01:06.showed debris from the missing Malaysian airliner? Ships and planes
:01:07. > :01:11.are scouring the South Indian Ocean to find out.
:01:12. > :01:17.And Vera Lynn, the Forces' Sweetheart, is releasing a new album
:01:18. > :01:19.at the age of 97. Should she inspire us to rethink what we can do in
:01:20. > :01:37.older age? Hello and welcome. EU leaders are
:01:38. > :01:40.preparing for dinner tonight after a day of discussion on what action to
:01:41. > :01:46.take against Russia in the light of its decision to absorb Crimea.
:01:47. > :01:49.German Chancellor Angela Merkel says EU leaders will agree new sanctions
:01:50. > :01:55.but the key issue is how extensive and deep they will be and whether
:01:56. > :02:00.they will take effect. In the US, President Obama has announced
:02:01. > :02:06.Washington is widening its travel ban and asset freeze on Russian
:02:07. > :02:08.officials. Russia has retaliated and imposed sanctions on leading
:02:09. > :02:13.officials including Senator John McCain.
:02:14. > :02:16.In Crimea Bay are issuing Russian passports as Moscow continues to
:02:17. > :02:23.tighten its grip on the breakaway Ukrainian republic. For EU leaders
:02:24. > :02:26.in Brussels the immediate issue is extending travel bans and asset
:02:27. > :02:33.freezes in response to the annexation. In longer term perhaps
:02:34. > :02:38.the total reevaluation of the relationship with Moscow. President
:02:39. > :02:45.Obama emerged with a new warning of more widespread sanctions if Russia
:02:46. > :02:51.escalates the situation further. I signed a new order today that gives
:02:52. > :02:54.of -- gives us the authority to impose sanctions not only on
:02:55. > :03:00.individuals but key sectors of the Russian economy. This is not our
:03:01. > :03:06.preferred outcome. These sanctions will not only have a significant
:03:07. > :03:11.impact on the Russian economy but also the global economy. The UN's
:03:12. > :03:20.top diplomat has been in Moscow for talks with, well, the man of the
:03:21. > :03:27.moment. During our meeting I have emphasised
:03:28. > :03:31.that all parties refrain from any hasty or provocative actions that
:03:32. > :03:41.could further exacerbate already very tense and volatile situations.
:03:42. > :03:49.But no hint of a shift in Moscow's position. The lower house of their
:03:50. > :03:55.parliament has formally annexed Crimea and they have announced
:03:56. > :04:00.sanctions against US politicians. Our policy to protect our
:04:01. > :04:08.compatriots remains unchanged. We will defend their issues by legal
:04:09. > :04:14.diplomatic and means. It still looks like a new deep freeze in Russian
:04:15. > :04:18.relations with the West. European Union leaders are meeting
:04:19. > :04:21.in Brussels to discuss the situation and possible further sanctions. For
:04:22. > :04:28.the latest we are joined by Iain Watson. Give us an idea of the kind
:04:29. > :04:38.of mood there. Is it hardening against Russia, is there cohesion,
:04:39. > :04:49.Unity? I think it is a pragmatic mood overall. Here the temperature
:04:50. > :05:01.is dropping but it has not dropped as far as it has in the US. A range
:05:02. > :05:06.of things were discussed, including making it very difficult for the
:05:07. > :05:11.annexed Crimea to export to the European Union, they have looked at
:05:12. > :05:15.extending the list of 21 Russians and Ukrainians associated with the
:05:16. > :05:22.former regime, travel bans and asset freezes. What a also want to do is
:05:23. > :05:26.draw up a list of further sanctions to be imposed if Russia goes any
:05:27. > :05:30.further. That is what they have been talking about this afternoon but
:05:31. > :05:37.when the you leaders have dinner in the next few minutes things will
:05:38. > :05:40.become more difficult to get a complete consensus. -- the European
:05:41. > :05:51.Union leaders. The Tory consensus is that there must be consequences for
:05:52. > :05:58.Russia, but other countries operate dependent on Russian energy
:05:59. > :06:01.supplies. I don't think we will see anything like the same scale of
:06:02. > :06:08.sanctions that the Americans are imposing. One thing I have been told
:06:09. > :06:12.is that there will be no talk of sanctions against Russian financial
:06:13. > :06:17.institutions. America has made sanctions against at least one
:06:18. > :06:20.Russian financial institution will stop picking up on what he was
:06:21. > :06:23.saying, let me bring you the numbers.
:06:24. > :06:29.You will see that the Europeans have much closer trade on energy and
:06:30. > :06:33.financial ties with the Russians compared with the Americans. Last
:06:34. > :06:43.year the trading of goods between Russia and the European union
:06:44. > :06:50.totalled almost US$450 billion. The Russian total was less than $40
:06:51. > :06:54.million. Ian Bond is with the Centre for European Reform but he is a
:06:55. > :06:58.former British ambassador to Latvia, which was part of the Soviet
:06:59. > :07:03.Union, and is now part of the European Union. Picking up on what
:07:04. > :07:08.Ian said, the fact is that the bottom line for the European Union
:07:09. > :07:15.is that we want to say Russia did something wrong as long as we do not
:07:16. > :07:19.hurt ourselves. If we stick to that it makes it very difficult. We need
:07:20. > :07:24.to be compared to accept some pain if we are going to send an effective
:07:25. > :07:29.signal. It is a bit misleading to talk in terms of the amount of
:07:30. > :07:33.trade, when what the Americans are doing at the moment is targeting
:07:34. > :07:38.leading members of President Putin's circle rather than looking
:07:39. > :07:45.at a broad scope of trade sanctions. But the fact is, the figures show
:07:46. > :07:50.just how far the ties do go, and therefore that may be a constraint
:07:51. > :07:56.on actions. Does that in your views say that the European Union actions
:07:57. > :08:06.against Russia are pathetic and toothless, as Malcolm Rifkind said?
:08:07. > :08:14.-- your view. I think he was right. The figures sound impressive but the
:08:15. > :08:24.European Union trade with Russia is less than with Switzerland. Do you
:08:25. > :08:28.see the European Union and the US, Obama saying we want to act
:08:29. > :08:34.together, slightly going at a different speed at the moment? Yes,
:08:35. > :08:37.the Americans have been much more willing to target people close to
:08:38. > :08:40.President Putin. They had a shorter list in their first package but at
:08:41. > :08:49.least three people had desks in the Kremlin. Including the Deputy Prime
:08:50. > :08:52.Minister. Yes, and this list is focused on people who are close
:08:53. > :08:58.either personally, financially or politically to President Putin. The
:08:59. > :09:02.European Union list was really 21 people that Putin would probably
:09:03. > :09:07.barely recognise in the street. Do you think that we will look at this
:09:08. > :09:09.crisis over the Crimea and say that this is a