Ukraine: US Halts Russia Military Engagements

The United States has put all military co-operation with Russia on hold over Moscow's deployment of troops in Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the measure included all military exercises, port visits, bilateral talks and planning conferences.

He said: "We call on Russia to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine and for Russian forces in Crimea to return to their bases, as required under the agreements governing the Russia Black Sea Fleet."

Vitaly Churkin shows the letter purportedly from Viktor Yanukovych

It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops taking part in military exercises close to the Ukraine border in western Russia to return to their permanent bases on Tuesday.

Russian soldiers were also reported to have fired warning shots into the air as around 300 Ukrainian troops demanded their jobs back at Belbek air base in Crimea. The air base was seized over the weekend.

Moscow's UN envoy told a stormy meeting of the UN Security Council that Ukraine's ousted leader Viktor Yanukovych had sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting that he use Russia's military to restore law and order in Ukraine.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, reading from an unofficial translation of the letter he said was dated March 1, said: "The country has plunged into chaos and anarchy.

Barack Obama holds a meeting on Ukraine in the White House situation room

"The country is in the grip of outright terror and violence driven by the West. People are persecuted on political and language grounds.

President Putin was filmed watching war games in Russia

"In this context, I appeal to the President of Russia Vladimir V Putin to use the armed forces of the Russian Federation to re-establish the rule of law, peace, order, stability and to protect the people of Ukraine."

But US President Barack Obama warned Moscow it would find itself "on the wrong side of history" - and that Russia's deployment of troops in Ukraine violates international law.

He spoke shortly after Mr Putin's aides were forced to deny reports that Russian forces have given the Ukrainian navy until 3am (5am local time) today to surrender.

America said any threat by Russia to Ukraine forces would represent a "dangerous escalation" in the crisis, and Moscow would be held responsible.

Moscow has also threatened it could be forced to drop the dollar as a reserve currency and refuse to pay off loans to US banks if the US imposes sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

Kremlin economic aide Sergei Glazyev said: "We would find a way not just to reduce our dependency on the US to zero but to emerge from those sanctions with great benefits for ourselves.

Ukraine's military might is dwarfed by Russia's

"An attempt to announce sanctions would end in a crash for the financial system of the US, which would cause the end of the domination of the US in the global financial system."

Ukraine says Russia has deployed 16,000 troops to Crimea over the past week.

Hundreds of Russian soldiers have surrounded a military base near the Crimean capital Simferopol, preventing Ukrainian soldiers from going in or out.

Russian forces have also seized a border checkpoint on the Ukrainian border between Russia and Crimea, Reuters reported.

Russia denies it told Ukraine forces in Crimea to surrender

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "At this point we are not just considering sanctions given the actions Russia is taking, it is likely we will put those in place and we are preparing that.

"We have a broad range of options available."

However, US Senator John McCain criticised Mr Obama's handling of the crisis and described him as "totally naive".

He told Sky News it was time the US had a "cold-eyed view of Putin" and said it should immediately impose "severe economic sanctions" on Moscow and reinstall missile defence systems in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the UN, told the UN Security Council in New York that Russia's actions are a violation of international law and a "response to an imaginary threat".

She said there is no "legal basis" for Moscow's troop deployment and the way to resolve the crisis is through talks between Ukraine and Russia.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called for the world to send Russia a "clear message" about its actions.

Nato will hold more emergency talks on the crisis on Tuesday after Poland requested consultations with its allies on the threat posed by Moscow.

The Russian foreign ministry said Nato's criticism of its actions in Crimea "will not help stabilise" the situation in Ukraine.

Russia was reported on Monday to have given Ukrainian forces in Crimea a deadline of 3am on Tuesday to surrender or face military action.

But that ultimatum was dismissed as "total nonsense" by an official from the Russian Ministry of Defence. There were no reports of fighting as the deadline passed on Tuesday.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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