Tip - There will be consequences says President Obama

“There will be consequences” if Ukraine’s sovereignty is violated, President Obama told reporters as Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov were meeting.

Mr. Putin’s decision to call a snap exercise involving thousands of troops near Ukraine’s borders this week had raised fears that Russia might deepen the crisis by intervening militarily in eastern Ukraine on the pretext of defending ethnic Russians, just as it had in Crimea.

“Russia is aware of its responsibility for the lives of compatriots and fellow citizens in Ukraine and reserves the right to take people under protection,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and STEVEN LEE MYERS