Russian fleet at heart of Ukraine crisis

 Russian soldiers guard a pier where two Ukrainian naval ships are moored, in Sevastopol, Ukraine.

Sevastopol - Gently bobbing up and down in the sheltered waters of the Bay of Sevastopol in Crimea, Russia's storied Black Sea Fleet has an air of decay about it.

Ukraine crisis: Obama urges Putin to pursue diplomacy

  President Obama: "Proposed referendum... would violate international law"                                                                     
US President Barack Obama has urged President Vladimir Putin to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine, in a lengthy telephone call.

Ukraine crisis: EU leaders to hold emergency talks

EU leaders are to begin an emergency summit to decide how strongly they should respond to Russia's troop deployment in Ukraine's Crimea region.