US-Russia ties strained as Washington slaps sanctions

WILL SANCTIONS HAVE AN IMPACT?

Critics have in recent years blasted Obama's foreign policy as lackluster, and charged his administration with ignoring longstanding issues concerning Russia.

Still, this may be one of the rare moments when Republicans stand together with Obama -- as long as they like the moves that come from his playbook, which his administration is scrambling to write in light of the weekend's events, Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua.

But if they don't like Obama's response or view it as weak, the president will face a firestorm of criticism, he said.

Some experts are unsure whether US sanctions, if implemented, would have an impact on Russia at all.

Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua that Washington's options are limited, as America has less influence than most people realize.

"If the leader of a very large and powerful country half a world away makes up his mind to take military action against a smaller, weaker neighbor, there is very little that any (US) president can do to prevent that," he said.

The Ukrainian political crisis, which originated from protests against President Viktor Yanukovych's decision last November to put an association agreement with the European Union on hold to get Russian aid, escalated over the past two weeks as a result of bloody clashes between protestors and police. Yanukovych was subsequently ousted by the parliament and had to flee to Russia.

The mostly Russian-speaking Autonomous Republic of Crimea in southern Ukraine is now the epicenter of the ongoing crisis. Some 50 armed men carrying Russian navy flags took control Friday of two airports in the capital of Simferopol on Friday, one day after gunmen seized the local parliament and government buildings.

Interim Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page that Russian naval forces, which have a base on the Crimean peninsula, were behind the seizure of the two airports, though Russia denied any involvement.

Phone call puts Obama, Putin in confrontation	Ukraine mobilizes after Putin's move