US warns Russia against 'expensive mistake' in Ukraine

The United States warned Russia against making an "expensive mistake" in Ukraine, as Moscow ordered new military exercises on its shared border after Kiev forces attacked pro-Kremlin rebels.
US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Russia's refusal to take any steps to end the crisis in Ukraine would prove costly, saying the window for Moscow to change course was closing.
He accused Moscow of a "full-throated effort to actively sabotage the democratic process through gross external intimidation" and described new Russian military exercises on the border of Ukraine yesterday as "threatening".
"Let me be clear: if Russia continues in this direction it will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake," the veteran diplomat said, adding "we are ready to act" as Washington tees up new economic sanctions against Moscow.

Russia ordered the new military exercises on its border with Ukraine yesterday after Kiev launched a deadly assault against pro-Kremlin rebels occupying the flashpoint town of Slavyansk, in an escalation of the crisis.
But Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov vowed to push on with the offensive to put down the rebellion in the east.

"We will not back down from the terrorist threat," Turchynov said in a televised address, telling Russia to stop interfering in Ukraine's internal affairs.
The rocketing tensions sent oil prices up, as US President Barack Obama, who has deployed troops to boost NATO's defences in eastern European states, also accused Russia of reneging on a Geneva agreement to defuse the crisis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in turn attacked the United States and the European Union of "trying to use Ukraine as a pawn in a geopolitical game".
UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the crisis threatened to "spin out of control" and urged all sides to "refrain from violence".
In Slavyansk several armoured vehicles backed by commandos on foot arrived after shooting was heard on its outskirts, AFP correspondents in the town said.
The vehicles withdrew just a few hours later, leaving the insurgents, who had pulled back, to again assert full control over the town.