'We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements,' Obama says. Obama to Russia: Stay out of Ukraine

President Barack Obama on Friday issued a blunt and direct warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin: stay out of Ukraine.

If not, he said, there will be consequences — though he didn’t say what those might be.


“We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine,” Obama said, speaking at the White House. “Any violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing.”

( Also on POLITICO: Barack Obama's full remarks on Ukraine)

As a first sign of where things could go next, a senior administration official said the president is considering scrapping a planned trip to the G-8 summit to be held in Sochi in June. In September, he canceled a planned summit with Putin that would have been held as part of his trip to Russia for the G-20 conference.

“We are consulting with European partners and considering options,” the official said. “It is hard to see how we and other European leaders would attend the G-8 in Sochi if Russia is intervening in Ukraine.”

U.S.-Russian relations have taken a steep nosedive in recent months, but the Ukrainian situation threatens to bring things to a direct standoff for the first time.

Obama said his administration has remained in close touch with Russian officials since he and Putin spent over an hour on the phone themselves last week, and while he hoped that the Russians would play a role in Ukraine’s future, it would not be determinative.

“We’ve made clear that they can be part of an international community’s effort,” Obama said.

In language that’s about as tough as it gets within diplomacy, Obama warned Russia against a “profound interference” and what would be a “clear violation” of international laws.

Russian military or political intervention, Obama said, would “invite the condemnation of nations around the world, and the United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs from any violation.”

Obama said that Vice President Joe Biden had just spoken again to the Ukrainian prime minister “to reaffirm the United States’ strong support for the new government and our commitment to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic future of Ukraine.”

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew also discussed economic developments with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk this afternoon.

( PHOTOS: Ukraine violence)

Immediately after his remarks, Obama headed to a hotel a few blocks from the White House for a speech to the Democratic National Committee winter meeting, where he was interrupted by a heckler.

“Tell us about your plan for nuclear war with Russia!” the man shouted.

“What the heck are you talking about?” Obama said. “I don’t know anything about that plan. I don’t know what you’ve been reading.”

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine’s capital last week, leaving protesters roaming his lavish presidential palace in Kiev and the rest of the country in uncertainty. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Parliament made its speaker, Oleksandr Turchynov, the new acting president.

But the week has been notably without violence.

Obama said he “commend[s] the Ukrainian government’s restraint,” adding that nothing should interfere with the elections scheduled to take place in May.

One of his top diplomats went even further earlier Friday.

“The United States calls upon Russia to pull back the military forces that are being built up in the region, to stand down and to allow the Ukrainian people the opportunity to pursue their own government, create their own destiny, and to do so freely without intimidation or fear,” U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power said at the United Nations shortly before Obama came to the podium.

The turmoil in Ukraine erupted over Yanukovych’s attempts to draw his country closer to Russia, and Putin, instead of toward the European Union, as many Ukrainians said they wanted.

Appearing Friday in Russia for his first in-person appearance in a week, Yanukovych called for calm — but also denied he had been deposed, and said he was still the legitimate president of the country.