Europe’s response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signing of a treaty recognising a “sovereign and independent” Crimea following the weekend referendum is set to become apparent, as leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday.

While the US and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia — including asset freezes and travel bans on a number of senior officials — ahead of the referendum, these were widely seen as having limited impact.

“The first round was a slap on the wrist,” says Lilit Gevorgyan, an analyst at IHS Global Insight in London.

“So far, the EU and US have been reluctant to take a harsh stand on Russia for two reasons: they thought harsh measures could close the door for diplomatic solution of the crisis and feared that outright harsh measures could backfire, and second they didn’t have the economic appetite for it.”

Further measures

The EU has also suspended talks on visa liberalisation with Russia, as well as on a new EU-Russia Cooperation Agreement.

It is also delaying talks on the South Stream gas pipeline that would provide a new route for Russian gas into the EU , though it is yet to announce a formal suspension.

Since the signing of the treaty, individual European nations have announced further measures: Britain will suspend all export of arms to Russia, while France may cancel a deal to sell the country two warships.

But the challenge for Europe will be reaching an agreement on effective sanctions across all its 28 members.

An obvious target – energy – would be unlikely, given the huge dependence many member states have on Russian gas.

While for the EU as a whole, Russian gas makes up a third of total gas imports, for some nations this figure is closer to 100 per cent.

According to London-based think tank Open Europe, “The most effective economic measures in the short term could be a combination of targeted sanctions on individuals and business interests and potentially limiting sales to Russia of products on which they are externally reliant – such as machinery, chemicals and medical products”.

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