US Calls G7 Crisis Meeting, May Kick Russia Out of G8

Moscow has officially signed a treaty making Crimea part of Russia, and the West is not happy. President Obama today called for an emergency meeting of the G7 to decide whether to kick Russia out of the G8, the AP reports. The G7, which consists of the US, Britain, Japan, France, Italy, and Canada, became the G8 when Russia joined in the 1990s. The original members will meet on the sidelines of next week's 53-nation nuclear meeting at the Hague—which Russia will also be attending.

"Russia has offered a variety of arguments to justify what is nothing more than a land grab," Joe Biden said today during a visit to Poland, which as a neighbor of both Russia and Ukraine, is a bit on edge. Ukraine's interim president offered an even stronger condemnation, saying Russia was "mimicking the fascists of the last century," while the interim prime minister called it "robbery on an international scale," CNN reports. But Crimea and Russia are working fast to cement the annexation, as Crimean officials announced plans today to switch to the ruble, and change their clocks to match Moscow's, the Globe and Mail reports. (More Barack Obama stories.)