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

Ukraine's interim leaders established a new National Guard on Tuesday and appealed to the United States and Britain for assistance against what they called Russian aggression in Crimea under a post-Cold War treaty.

• March 12, 2014

Ukraine's government appealed for Western help on Tuesday to stop Moscow annexing Crimea but the Black Sea peninsula, overrun by Russian troops, seemed fixed on a course that could formalize rule from Moscow within days.

• March 11, 2014