Russian troops near the Ukrainian border will return to its permanent bases after completing its military exercises, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, calling for a "de-escalation" of rhetoric.
NASA is to suspend the majority of its ongoing activities with Russia over its "violation" of Ukraine's sovereignty, it announced today.
It added that it would continue to work together with Russia on the International Space Station.
In a statement on Facebook, NASA said: "NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space.
"This has been a top priority of the Obama Administration’s for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches – and the jobs they support – back to the United States next year".
An unusually frank Nato Secretary General issued an unequivocal warning on the course of events should Russia attack Latvia or Estonia.
The West responds with sanctions and closer political ties with Ukraine as Russia's President seals the annexing of Crimea to much fanfare.
Supporters of the controversial fracking industry believe shale gas could be America's most potent weapon in the stand-off with Russia.