European Union leaders will consider repercussions for Russia at an emergency meeting today on the Ukraine crisis, after Russia’s foreign minister fended off a U.S. effort to ease tensions in the Crimean peninsula. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will participate in today’s meeting in Brussels, a day after the 28-nation bloc offered 1.6 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in emergency aid to help the new Ukrainian government avert a default. The government is prepared to immediately sign the EU association agreement that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych rejected, precipitating the crisis, premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk said in an interview with newspaper Rzeczpospolita. Western nations including the U.S. are threatening Russia with sanctions over its military intervention in Crimea while pursuing diplomacy in an effort to defuse the crisis. Russia has accused the West of supporting a coup against Yanukovych and rejected EU proposals to broker a settlement. […]