Just plain lies, scatterbrained lies and damning lies, a compilation:

Putin’s Crisis Spreads

By Masha Lipman, News Desk @ newyorker.com, March 8, 2014

[....] While all politicians lie, the escalation of Russia’s dispute with Ukraine into an aggressive redrawing of European borders has been fueled by a series of unusually egregious lies and false claims [....]

[....] In Crimea, these days, the Russian government does not care about disguises; it just lies [....]

At home, Putin’s authoritarian grip keeps him politically unchallenged. His approval rating had grown, in a February poll, to sixty-seven per cent. He is right because he says so.

But, in the West, Putin has no credibility left. The U.S. State Department put together and circulated a list of Putin’s ten “false claims” about Ukraine. The E.U. emergency summit on Thursday dismissed the Kremlin’s denial about the presence of Russian troops in Crimea. Even Russia’s closest allies among the ex-Soviet states, such as Belarus and Kazakhstan, have not gone along with Putin. China, which often supports Russia at the U.N. Security Council, this time chose to side with the United States [.....]

John Kerry declines Vladimir Putin meeting
BBC News, 11 March, 2014

A meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin will not happen until Moscow engages with US proposals to tackle the crisis in Ukraine, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said.

Mr Kerry told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Moscow's military intervention in Crimea had made any negotiations extremely difficult.

US officials say there will be little to talk about if the referendum on Crimea's future goes ahead. The referendum is to be held on Sunday [....]

In a televised briefing with President Putin on Monday, Mr Lavrov said proposals made by Mr Kerry for a negotiated solution to the crisis are "not suitable" because they take "the situation created by the coup as a starting point", referring to the overthrow of Ukraine's proRussian President, Viktor Yanukovych.

Washington says that there has been no official response yet to a set of questions Mr Kerry gave Mr Lavrov at the weekend, asking in particular whether Moscow is prepared to meet officials from the new Ukrainian government [....]

Could be wrong, but reading between the lines of the below, sounds to me like what's going on is the west is going to try to see that Ukraine gets some much needed moola on condition they let Crimea go independent somehow--in a just for show independent kinda way, like this: you can't call it Russia, Putin, but maybe it can be sorta kinda Russian:

Obama Makes Diplomatic Push to Defuse Crisis in Ukraine
By Peter Baker and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times, March 12/13, 2014

[....] Obama hosted a White House visit by Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, the country’s pro-Western acting prime minister, and vowed to “stand with Ukraine.” But he also hinted at a formulation that could be the basis for the coming talks between Mr. Kerry and Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, recognizing Moscow’s interest in helping the Russian-speaking population in Crimea while affirming that it is part of Ukraine [....]

Mr. Obama said Mr. Yatsenyuk told him that a new Ukrainian government formed after elections scheduled for May 25 could find ways to address Crimea’s concerns. “There is a constitutional process in place and a set of elections that they can move forward on that, in fact, could lead to different arrangements over time with the Crimean region,” Mr. Obama said. “But that is not something that can be done with the barrel of a gun pointed at you.”

At a separate appearance later in the day, Mr. Yatsenyuk expressed willingness to consider concessions to Crimea. “We the Ukrainian government are ready to start a nationwide dialogue how to increase the rights of autonomous Republic of Crimea, starting with taxes and ending with other aspects like language issues,” he told an audience at the Atlantic Council [....]

Mr. Kerry employed similarly tough language during testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where he said the United States and its partners were prepared to impose tough sanctions if Russia moved to annex Crimea. “It can get ugly fast if the wrong choices are made, and it can get ugly in multiple directions,” he said. “Our hope is that there is a way to have a reasonable outcome here.”

In fact, he suggested the two sides could continue talking even if Sunday’s referendum is held, as long as Russia stops short of annexation. “There are a lot of variants here, which is why it is urgent that we have this conversation with the Russians,” he said. The United States has “exchanged some thoughts” with Moscow on how to address the crisis, he said, but the two sides “haven’t had a meeting of the minds.”

For Mr. Yatsenyuk, the visit to Washington was not just about rallying support against Russia but was also an effort to seek an economic booster shot for his vulnerable economy. Yet even as both American political parties celebrated Mr. Yatsenyuk as a hero and promised to help Ukraine, a bid to provide financial assistance bogged down in a polarized Congress [....]

One thing the article does not draw a picture of is anything similar to the description of the situation I just heard on Chris Hayes' show by some foreign policy talking head. He basically made it sound like Obama was threatening war with Putin unless he backed down. I don't see any of that in this report.

McCain Rails GOP on Ukraine Bill: ‘Don’t Call Yourself Reagan Republicans’ (Video)
By JM Rieger, Roll Call, March 13, 2014

Sen. John McCain hammered Republicans on the Senate floor Thursday for refusing to pass by unanimous consent a Senate Foreign Relation Committee bill which would provide economic aid while imposing sanctions on Russia.

“What has happened? Where are our priorities? You can call yourself Republicans, that’s fine, because that’s your voter registration. Don’t call yourself Reagan Republicans,” the Arizona Republican said.

The bill also includes IMF language, which Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, said isn’t necessary, and which some senators railed against Thursday. “This makes no sense,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said [....]