The United States would see any new Russian troop movement in south Ukraine as an "outrageous escalation" of the crisis over Crimea, its ambassador to the UN warned Saturday.
Samantha Power made the remarks to reporters when asked about an accusation from Ukraine that Russian forces had invaded a region in the southeast of the country neighboring Crimea.
Power said the United States was looking into the reports, which emerged during an emergency session of the UN Security Council where Russia vetoed a Western-backed resolution condemning Sunday's referendum on Crimea coming under Kremlin rule.
"Obviously if Russia has compounded what it has done in Crimea by crossing into south Ukraine that would be an outrageous escalation," Power said.
"For something additional, even more escalatory to have occurred would be flying in the face of everything you have heard here today," she added.
