From what I've read in "The Economist", Western Europe trade with Russia is in the hundreds of billions of euros. Even the UK would be affected by trade sanctions. In Germany 300,000 jobs could be lost. So you won't see too many harsh sanctions coming from them. Don't forget all of the energy that Russia sells them.
The old Soviet Block countries in Eastern Europe are obviously concerned. Will it be the Ukraine today and Poland or Czechoslovakia tomorrow? A close friend that I deer hunt with has family in Poland and they are very concerned. They would welcome more American or NATO involvement within their boarders.
I know a lady at church (Orthodox Christian) who's originally from Eastern Ukraine. Many in the eastern part of the country dislike the Western Ukrainians and are more Russian by language,culture and religion (Orthodox). Eastern Ukrainians tend to be Roman Catholic and speak Ukrainian and not Russian. The distrust between the two sides go all the way back to WWII. Apparently the Eastern Ukrainians fought with the Nazis against the Western Ukrainians that fought with the Soviets.
So even that becomes more complicated.
The lady at church has a sister that lives in Crimea and voted for Russian annexation. Better pay, healthcare and pension. The presidents in Kiev have also been seen as corrupt. They've been enriched while their countrymen have struggled.
Geopolitics is never as simple as the US or the Russian press make it sound.
Dan
