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US President Barack Obama has warned Russia there will be "costs" for any military intervention
in Ukraine. He said he was deeply concerned by reports
of Russian military movements inside the country. Ukraine's acting president has accused Russia
of deploying troops to Crimea and trying to provoke Kiev into "armed conflict".
Russia's UN ambassador said any troop movements in Crimea were within an existing arrangement
with Ukraine. Speaking from the White House, President Obama
commended Ukraine's interim government for its "restraint".
"Any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilising,
which is not in the interests of Ukraine, Russia or Europe," he said.
"It would represent a profound interference in matters that must be determined by the
Ukrainian people. It would be a clear violation of Russia's commitment to respect the independence
and sovereignty and borders of Ukraine - and of international laws."
He added: "Just days after the world came to Russia for the Olympic games, it would
invite the condemnation of nations around the world. And, indeed, the United States
will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for
any military intervention in Ukraine." Mr Obama did not spell out what any US response
might be. However, the BBC's Beth McLeod in Washington says the US is considering exerting
economic pressure by withholding the deeper trade ties that Moscow seeks.
It is also considering boycotting a G8 summit hosted by Russia, she adds, although that
is not until June. In a TV address on Friday, Ukraine's interim
President Oleksander Turchynov said Moscow wanted the new government to react to provocations
so it could annex Crimea. He appealed to Russian President Vladimir
Putin to "stop provocations and start negotiations". He said Russia was behaving as it did before
sending troops into Georgia in 2008 over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
which have large ethnic Russian populations. "They are implementing the scenario like the
one carried out in Abkhazia, when after provoking a conflict, they started an annexation of
the territory," Mr Turchynov said. Armed men in unidentified military uniforms
have moved in on Crimea's parliament, state television building and telecommunication
centres. They have also been patrolling airports in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, and Sevastopol,
where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based.