Obama Warns Russia Not to Use Force in Ukraine
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President Obama warned Russia on Friday that it should not intervene militarily in Ukraine, saying the United States will stand with the world to condemn a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“There will be costs,” Mr. Obama declared in a brief statement from the White House.
The president said the United States government is “deeply concerned” by what he said are “reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside Ukraine.”
He said that any intervention militarily into Ukraine would be “deeply destabilizing” and would represent a “profound interference” in the Ukrainian people’s right to determine their own future.
Mr. Obama said that he spoke “several days ago” with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and that his administration remains in daily contact with Russian officials.
In his remarks Friday, Mr. Obama warned Russian officials that a military intervention into Ukraine would “be a clear violation of Russia’s commitment to respect the independence, and sovereignty and borders of Ukraine.”
And Mr. Obama pointedly noted that the any breach of Ukrainian sovereignty would contrast sharply with the spirt of the Olympic Winter Games, which just concluded in Sochi, Russia.
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