“Ashton: EU drew up Russian sanctions list independently of US” , “Why the leaders of KZ are not (yet) losing sleep over Crimea”, KZ president’s kin goes to war over Plaza pad”, “EU has published a list of 21 sanctioned Russian and Crimean officials"

washingtonpost.com. “Why the leaders of Kazakhstan are not (yet) losing sleep over Crimea” - When Russia mobilized troops to the Crimea and eventually occupied it, many analysts were quick to suggest that the crisis had  implications for Central Asian countries with significant number of ethnic Russians, particularly Kazakhstan. The general rationale is that Russia has intervened in Ukraine to protect ethnic Russians who were the majority in the Crimea. Thus the large ethnic Russian population in Kazakhstan and some other countries would potentially serve as a tool for Russia to legitimize intervention there, should it so desire.

cnn.com. “Obama can't have it both ways on Crimea”- Whatever U.S. and European leaders may say, it seems clear a majority of the residents of Crimea were only too happy to abandon Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. The referendum held there on Sunday was illegal according to Ukrainian constitutional law and took place under duress, following the large-scale incursion of "pro-Russian forces" -- and voters did not have the choice to say "no" to severing ties with Kiev.

kyivpost. “Ashton: EU drew up Russian sanctions list independently of US” - The European Union's list of Russian individuals who led the drive to split Crimea off from Ukraine was drawn up independently of that of the United States, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said at a press conference on Monday.

ria.ru. “Ukraine to Lay Claim for Soviet Heritage”- Ukraine is set to lay a claim to property of the Soviet Union, including about $80 billion deposited on the accounts of the USSR State Bank, Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said on Thursday.

nypost.com. “Kazakhstan president’s kin goes to war over Plaza pad” - The brother of the president of Kazakhstan is asking a Manhattan judge to force a settlement that would strip his ex-wife of a $20 million Plaza pad — even though she negotiated the deal while under house arrest in their home country.

itar-tss. com. “EU has published a list of 21 sanctioned Russian and Crimean officials” - The European Union has published a list of 21 sanctioned Russian and Crimean officials, the Official Journal of the European Union reported on Monday. Europe’s “black list” includes 8 Crimean leaders: Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, parliamentary Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov, First Vice-Premier Rustam Temirgaliyev; Crimean Navy Commander Denis Berezovsky; Mayor of Sevastopol Alexei Chalyi; Security Service Chief Pyotr Zima; Yuri Zherebtsov, adviser to the speaker of the Crimean State Council (parliament); and Sergei Tsekov, the head of the Russian Community of Crimea.