Obama warns Russia of cost for intervention in Ukraine

SIMFEROPOL, Mar 1 (AFP): The new Ukrainian government was scheduled  to hold its first cabinet meeting Saturday, amid fears of secession in restive Crimea where pro-Russian forces are tightening their grip despite US warnings.
Heavily armed troops in uniforms with no national insignia took up positions around government buildings and the airport in Simferopol on Friday, as Ukrainian officials accused Russia of "naked aggression".
In Washington, a US defence official said Moscow was thought to have already sent "several hundred" more troops into the Russian-speaking region, where it already has a major military base.
President Barack Obama, speaking in Washington, said: "We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine." He added that any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be "deeply destabilising", warning that there "will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine".
Another senior US official later suggested those costs could include a decision by Obama and top European leaders to skip the summit of G8 industrialised nations in the Black Sea Olympic resort of Sochi in June.
Other possible trade and commercial concessions that the Kremlin has been seeking as recently as this week could also be at risk, the official said.
Ukraine's interim president Oleksandr Turchynov, who took power after Russian-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych fled last week, directly addressed the Kremlin leader from Kiev.
"I personally appeal to President Putin to immediately stop military provocation and to withdraw from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea... It's a naked aggression against Ukraine," he said.
The country's new interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was due to preside over his hastily formed cabinet's first meeting at 0800 GMT Saturday.
His untested new team-made up in part of leaders of the protests that gripped Kiev for three months-is grappling not only with growing separatism fears but also the risk of a devastating debt default.
But IMF chief Christine Lagarde said there was no need to panic, playing down reports that Ukraine is in urgent need of up to $15 billion to maintain government payments.
In New York, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis, but the talks broke up without a formal statement.
Council president Raimonda Murmokaite was able to say only that members expressed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty and for "inclusive political dialogue".
US envoy Samantha Power went further, calling for an urgent, international mission to "de-escalate the situation" in Crimea and mediate dialogue among all Ukrainian parties.
Close US ally Britain also said that any newly deployed Russian troops not answering to the Ukrainian government should withdraw.
A spokesman for Russia's Crimea-based Black Sea Fleet denied its forces were involved, but uniformed men with assault rifles, body armour and helmets were in evidence around Simferopol.