UKRAINE LATEST – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:   More escalation in this growing crisis.  From Fox: 

Hundreds of unidentified gunmen surrounded a Ukrainian infantry base in its Crimea region Sunday, blocking soldiers from entering or leaving it as tensions are rising between the country’s new leaders and Russia.

The convoy surrounding the base in Privolnoye included at least 13 troop vehicles each containing 30 soldiers and four armored vehicles with mounted machine guns. The vehicles have Russian license plates.

The Ukrainian soldiers -- with clips in their weapons -- responded by positioning a tank at the base’s gate leaving the two sides in a tense standoff. Neither side would speak to Associated Press journalists.

In Kiev, Ukraine's new prime minister urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull back his military, warning that "we are on the brink of disaster."

Arseniy Yatsenyuk spoke a day after Russian forces took over the strategic Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine without firing a shot.

COMMENT:  Pretty serious.  The question is whether Putin will stop just before he is guilty of a mass ground invasion.  So far he has shown utter contempt for Obama's pleas, and only a strong United States can lead the international opposition to Russian aggression.

This will be a Ukraine week.  It's reasonable to be apprehensive.  Crises can spin out of control.

March 2, 2014