Russia firing artillery on Ukraine troops: US

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80. I'm sure "talking on the phone" carried a lot of weight with Putin. Things are worse now.

It sure looks like Obama's phone calls have done nothing. Now we have artillery firing coming from Russia into the Ukraine. But its not all up to Obama either; the EU HAS to ramp up their actions against Putin. Thats where most of his money comes from. But they've been scared to do much up to this point. Maybe the airliner being shot down, and the remains being looted, bodies held, etc, will have an impact on them.
For the most part, all Russia has is income from gas and oil. If the world can hurt the purse of Putin and more importantly his rich buddies, he MAY ease up. I still have my doubts. I dont think he will stop doing what he's doing now, until he achieves what ever he wants. The Ukrainians are all that stands in his way. Our sanctions to date have been meaningless and the EU has done less.