EU Leaders Slap Initial Sanctions on Russia

The European Union has suspended talks with Russia on a wide-ranging economic pact and on a visa deal, punishing Moscow for its military incursion into the Crimean Peninsula of neighboring Ukraine.

EU leaders made the announcement at an emergency summit on Thursday and threatened further sanctions if Russia does not quickly engage in talks to end the crisis.

The move in Brussels came on the heels of sanctions by the Obama administration in Washington, D.C., which imposed visa restrictions on pro-Russian opponents of the new Ukrainian government in Kiev, also clearing the way for financial sanctions.

The sanctions on both side of the Atlantic aimed to rein in Europe's gravest geopolitical crisis since the Cold War.