Russia’s quick recognition of Crimea as an independent state is risking a second round of more damaging sanctions that could unleash a new Cold War.
On Monday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree to declare Crimea fully independent of Ukraine. The act of defiance came a few hours after the United States and the European Union launched sanctions against about 30 individual Russians and pro-Russian Ukrainians for what was described as their role in threatening the security and the borders of Ukraine.
