Obama, Putin, Ukraine.

Obama doesn't understand Putin's Eurasian ambitions. "Western officials seem to be betting that Mr. Putin won't dare to extend his aggression beyond Crimea. But then, just last week they were saying they did not expect Moscow to move quickly on Crimean annexation. The Obama administration and its European allies have been too slow to grasp that Mr. Putin is bent on upending the post-Cold War order in Europe and reversing Russia's loss of dominion over Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia." Editorial Board.

Russia's moves are a 'wake-up' call, NATO official says. "Russia's aggression in Ukraine is a 'wake-up call' for the Atlantic military alliance and other international institutions that have buttressed European security and stability for decades, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday....How NATO and its 28 individual members respond to the new world Rasmussen outlined is likely to determine whether the challenges that have plagued the alliance almost since its inception are eased or aggravated." Karen DeYoung in The Washington Post.

No military action in Ukraine, Obama says. "President Obama says the United States military will not take action in Ukraine....'What we are going to do is mobilize all of our diplomatic resources to make sure that we've got a strong international correlation that sends a clear message,' Obama said. Obama told St. Louis's KSDK-TV that the United States does 'not need to trigger an actual war with Russia.' 'The Ukrainians don't want that, nobody would want that. But what we can do is stand up for principles and stand by the Ukrainian people,' he said. Katie Zezima in The Washington Post.

News analysis: With military action ruled out, Obama's diplomatic approach put to test. "For President Barack Obama, Russia's aggressive annexation of Crimea is testing central tenets of his foreign policy philosophy: his belief in the power of direct diplomacy, his preference for using economic sanctions as punishment and his inclination to proceed cautiously in order to avoid creating larger long-term problems. The question facing the White House now is whether actions that have done little to stop Russia from claiming Crimea are tough enough to stop further escalations by Moscow. And if they continue to prove insufficient, what else is Obama willing to do to change Vladimir Putin's calculus? The menu of additional options appears limited." Julie Pace in The Associated Press.

Obama has no leverage over Putin, majority of insiders say. "President Obama does not have any leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin, a narrow majority of National Journal's National Security Insiders said. A defiant Putin this week annexed Crimea, despite the economic sanctions the Obama administration and European Union imposed. The interim Ukrainian leaders fear Putin may try to seize more territory beyond Crimea, and the West is warning that Russia will pay a price for its meddling and violations of international law. But a slim 53 percent majority of the security and foreign policy experts say Obama can do little to stop Putin." Sarah Sorcher in National Journal.