memeorandum: Putin's War in Crimea Could Soon Spread to Eastern Ukraine (Julia Ioffe/The New Republic)

7:35 PM ET, March 1, 2014

Top Items:

Kremlin Clears Way for Force in Ukraine; Separatist Split Feared — SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — As Russian armed forces effectively seized control of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Saturday, the Russian Parliament granted President Vladimir V. Putin the authority he sought to use military force …

Discussion: Business Insider, Associated Press, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, The Moderate Voice, The Week, kyivpost.com, Althouse, Yahoo! News and New York Times

Julia Ioffe / The New Republic:

Putin's War in Crimea Could Soon Spread to Eastern Ukraine — And nobody—not the U.S., not NATO—can stop him — Vladimir Putin has asked the Federation Council—the upper chamber of Russia's dummy parliament—to authorize the use of force not just in Crimea, but “on Ukraine's territory until …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, CANNONFIRE, Guardian, BuzzFeed, Hullabaloo, The PJ Tatler, Washington Monthly, The Monkey Cage, The Agonist, Yahoo! News, The Week and The Dish

Marco Rubio / Politico:

8 Steps Obama Must Take to Punish Russia — Russia's illegal military incursion in the Crimea region in Ukraine is a grave violation of a nation's sovereignty and cannot go unpunished. — First, President Obama should speak unequivocally and call this what it is: a military invasion.

Discussion: RIA Novosti, The PJ Tatler and PJ Media

Politico:

Putin's reckless Ukraine gambit — Vladimir Putin's surprise decision to ask for a Russian-style War Powers resolution from his parliament dramatically ups the ante in the Ukraine crisis and positions Russia for full-scale military action. It also signals Putin's commitment to use all necessary means …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Week, The Lonely Conservative, The Other McCain and CNN

Conal Urquhart / Guardian:

Ukraine places forces on combat alert and threatens war as UN security council meets - live updates — Ukrainian PM tells Russian forces to return to base in Crimea and warns of war in case of further escalation — Sort by: — 8.05pm GMT — NATO meeting — NATO will now meet at the behest of Latvia and Lithuania.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week and New York Times

Washington Post:

Condemnation isn't enough for Russian actions in Crimea — PRESIDENT OBAMA made an unscheduled appearance before the press at the White House Friday to warn Russia against a military intervention in Ukraine, which he said would be a “clear violation” of Russia's commitments …

Discussion: Power Line, Outside the Beltway, Associated Press, Post Politics, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Gawker

Matthew Kaminski / Wall Street Journal:

Mikheil Saakashvili: Lessons From the Putin Wars — Georgia's former president, who has seen first-hand the sort of trouble the Kremlin is causing in Ukraine, on what to do about Moscow's threat. — Kiev — Between barricades of tires and impromptu memorials to the victims of Ukraine's revolution …

Laura Smith-Spark / CNN:

Russian upper house approves use of force in Ukraine — Troops stand guard in Balaklava, Crimea, on Saturday, March 1. Ukraine suspects Russia of sending new troops into Crimea and provoking separatist tensions in the region. Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine with an ethnic Russian majority.

Discussion: Politico, Gawker, The Federalist, Hot Air, Mashable, The Monkey Cage, Taylor Marsh, National Review and Mediaite

Ron Synovitz / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
Explainer: The Budapest Memorandum And Its Relevance To Crimea

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Mail, The PJ Tatler, Right Wing News, US Department of State and TIME

USA Today:
Last Slide — SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — Russian parliament's …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Heritage Foundation and The Agonist

Reuters:
Russia wresting control of Crimea from Ukraine

Discussion: Business Insider

Kathy Lally / Washington Post:
Russian parliament approves use of troops in Ukraine

Discussion: Daily Kos and The PJ Tatler

BBC:
Russian parliament approves troop deployment in Ukraine

Discussion: The Week and National Review

Guardian:
Russian ‘invasion’ of Crimea fuels fear of Ukraine conflict

Discussion: New Jersey Online

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Heckler: Obama wants ‘nuclear war with Russia’

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, The Mahablog, CANNONFIRE and Liberaland

Tony Lee / BREITBART.COM:
PALIN MOCKED IN 2008 FOR WARNING PUTIN MAY INVADE UKRAINE IF OBAMA ELECTED

Discussion: Liberal Values, No More Mister Nice Blog, Israel Matzav, Vox Popoli and The Daily Caller

Nikita Stewart / New York Times:

De Blasio Picks More Liberal Activists Than Managers for City Posts — In Bill de Blasio's City Hall, it seems more and more, there is only a left wing. — The mayor, who advanced in politics by grass-roots organizing, has built a team filled with former activists …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Right Wing News and The Lonely Conservative

Alec Torres / National Review:

Krauthammer's Take: Obama Tells the World We Aren't Going to Do Anything About Invasion of Ukraine — As reports are coming in that Russia has placed 2,000 troops in Crimea, within the borders of Ukraine, President Obama said that “the United States will stand with the international community …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NewsBusters and Independent Journal Review

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr / Wall Street Journal:

Jenkins: Personal Score-Settling Is the New Climate Agenda — The cause of global carbon regulation may be lost, but enemies still can be punished. — Surely, some kind of ending is upon us. Last week climate protesters demanded the silencing of Charles Krauthammer for a Washington Post column …

Discussion: National Review

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Arizona Sort of Helps Out — It's been quite a week in Arizona. First, the Legislature passed a bill that, in effect, gave businesses the right to discriminate against gay couples. The state's actual business community was horrified. Everybody from Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich was ticked off.

Discussion: Althouse