Ukraine

If you've dreamed of living like a pirate on the high seas, get ready to hoist the Jolly Roger. A Texas lawmaker has called for "letters of marque"!

Despite what you may have heard, the ban on Russian alcohol products has not hit the liquor stores in Killeen, Texas.

MILAN (AP) — Russian leader Vladimir Putin is meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and key Western leaders in an attempt to negotiate a full end to hostilities in Ukraine that could ease sanctions against Russia.

Russia's foreign minister is warning NATO not to extend an invitation for membership to Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov's remarks came on the eve of a Thursday NATO summit in Wales, where the fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists will likely be discussed.

MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is imposing sanctions against Russian officials after Crimea's vote to secede from Ukraine. Obama's executive order issued Monday names seven Russian government officials. The United States also says it identifies and targets the assets of other individuals who aren't government officials but are supporting them.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has chaired a meeting of his Security Council focusing on the crisis in Ukraine. Putin said at the start of Thursday's meeting that he wants to discuss ties with Russia's "friends and partners in Ukraine," as well as Russia's relations with the United States and the European Union in connection with the developments in Ukraine.

JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — One by one, President Barack Obama's warnings to Russia are being brushed aside by President Vladimir Putin, who appears to be speeding up efforts to formally stake his claim to Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says Russia's military invasion of Ukraine could end up driving countries away from Russia, instead of closer to it.

DALTON BENNETT, Associated Press LAURA MILLS, Associated Press SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych resurfaced in Russia to deliver a defiant condemnation of a "bandit coup," while Russian armored vehicles bearing the nation's tricolor rumbled across Crimea and men described as Russian troops took position at airports and a coast guard base — ominous