Barack Obama: "If anyone in Russian leadership thought the world wouldn't care... they clearly miscalculated"
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The US and EU are discussing "deeper sanctions" against Russia if there are "further incursions into Ukraine".

US President Barack Obama said "energy is obviously a central focus of our efforts", acknowledging it "will have some impact on the global economy".

He was speaking after talks in Brussels with EU leaders.

In a keynote speech later, he said Russians "will recognise that they cannot achieve security, prosperity and status... through brute force".

"That's why, throughout this crisis, we will combine our substantial pressure on Russia with an open door for diplomacy," he told an audience at the end of his visit to Brussels.

Tensions are high between the West and Russia after Ukraine's southern peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russian forces earlier this month after a referendum which Kiev and its Western allies considered illegal.

'Disgrace'
Mr Obama, along with EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso, stressed EU and US unity on the issue of Ukraine.

"The world is safer and more just when Europe and America stand as one," Mr Obama said. Mr Van Rompuy called it a "crucial" relationship.

Mr Obama praised the 28-nation EU bloc for the steps it had already taken - along with the US - to penalise Russia. These have included visa bans and asset freezes against a number of Russian officials.

He said those actions were taken after Russian forces moved in to annex Crimea, and they now must consider "the potential for additional, deeper sanctions" should Moscow attempt to do the same in other parts of Ukraine.

"We recognise that in order for Russia to feel the impact of these sanctions, it will have some impact on the global economy as well as on all the countries represented here today," Mr Obama said.

Acknowledging that some EU countries were more dependent than others on Russia for energy, he said "this entire event has pointed to the need for Europe to look at how it can further diversify its energy sources".

And he said Nato must remain a "regular presence" in those eastern European countries which feel vulnerable to possible Russian intervention. He also voiced concern at the falling defence budgets of some countries.

Mr Van Rompuy called Russia's actions in Crimea "a disgrace in the 21st Century, and we will not recognise it".

Article of BBC News