Russian President Vladimir Putin, defying Ukrainian protests and Western sanctions, signed a treaty on Tuesday making Crimea part of Russia but said he did not plan to seize any other regions of Ukraine.

• March 18, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday imposed sanctions on 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials blamed for Russia's military incursion into Crimea, including two top aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• March 17, 2014

It will replace Egypt as a tourist hotspot, its offshore oil and gas reserves will cement Russia's position as the world's top energy producer, and its spas will revive the state sector's weary workforce. At least, that's how Russia presents Crimea.

• March 17, 2014

The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans on officials from Russia and Ukraine after Crimea applied to join Russia on Monday following a weekend referendum.

• March 17, 2014

Growing tension between the West and Russia ahead of Ukraine's weekend referendum in Crimea pushed stocks on major world markets down on Friday and ramped up the flight into safe-haven gold and the yen.

• March 14, 2014

U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday on rising tension in Ukraine, which helped erase earlier gains spurred by better-than-expected data on retail sales and the labor market.

• March 13, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama and European Union leaders will promise to remove all tariffs on bilateral trade at their summit on March 26, an ambitious step towards the world's largest free-trade deal, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

• March 13, 2014

The International Monetary Fund has made good progress in its fact-finding mission in Kiev and will then discuss Ukraine's economic situation with IMF management, a fund spokesman said on Thursday.

• March 13, 2014