Summary The US called Monday on Russia's President Vladimir Putin to stop destabilizing Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States called Monday on Russia's President Vladimir Putin to stop destabilizing Ukraine, saying it was concerned about "several escalatory" moves over the weekend.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States was prepared to impose further sanctions, this time targeting the Russian economy, if the situation continues to escalate.
The warning came after pro-Kremlin militants occupied the seat of government in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and proclaimed independence from Kiev, promising a referendum on joining Russia.
"We are concerned about several escalatory moves in Ukraine at the weekend. We see them as the result of increasing Russian pressure on Ukraine," Carney said.
He warned that any move into eastern Ukraine by Russian forces would be regarded as "a serious escalation and would unleash new consequences from the West."
"We call on President Putin and his government to cease efforts to destabilize Ukraine," he said.
The United States imposed targeted sanctions on a Russian bank and officials in Putin's inner circle after Moscow last month annexed Crimea, a breakaway mainly Russian-speaking province of Ukraine.
The White House has previously said that further aggression from Moscow could lead the United States to seek sanctions that go beyond individuals and aim to hurt the broader Russian economy.
