[caption id="attachment_108451" align="alignright" width="233"] The EU member states are likely to raise tensions with Vladimir Putin's Russia to heights not seen since the cold war. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev / RIA Novosti / Kremlin Pool/EPA[/caption]
Measures against Moscow looking likely after shooting down of plane, though deep divisions remain among 28 member states
The European Union has expanded its blacklist of Russians subject to sanctions and broad economic measures against Moscow are looking increasingly likely following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 despite deep divisions among the 28 EU member states.

Such measures would represent a rift between Russia and the rest of Europe of a depth not seen for over 20 years. While analysts balk at describing the looming standoff as a new cold war, pointing out Russia is a much less formidable power than the Soviet Union, they say the new east-west tensions could intensify and prove very hard to reverse.

So far, with no sign of an end to Russian military support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and reports of direct artillery fire from inside Russia against Ukrainian positions, Vladimir Putin appears to be responding to the threat of more sanctions by raising the stakes on the battlefield.

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