The summit of European heads of state and government rejects the referendum held in Crimea as "illegal", also following the words of US President Barack Obama. The clear will emerged from the meeting of the big EU to undertake a path of annexation of Ukraine through, by May, an association agreement, at least political, between Europe and Kiev.
But Brussels also shows a strong political will for dialogue with Moscow to get out of the crisis with a political solution, as later confirmed by the long telephone conversation between Obama and Putin: "There is a diplomatic route", said the two leaders. However, the fact remains that the decision on Crimea has led the EU to hypothesize a pressure tool, in two phases: to block visas and goods, and then move on to trade sanctions.
