US suspends military ties with Russia amid Ukraine crisis

The United States has “put on hold” all military engagements and exercises with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, according to the US Department of Defense.

“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,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said on Monday.

Kirby said that the US military has “put on hold all military-to-military engagements,” including bilateral meetings, port visits and planning conferences.

Tensions between Washington and Moscow escalated after the Obama administration accused the Kremlin of planning a military intervention in Ukraine.

Russian Black Sea Fleet says it has no plans to launch an assault on Ukrainian military units in Crimea.

A White House official said on Monday that US President Barack Obama held a high-level meeting with senior military and national security advisers at the White House about Ukraine.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, national security adviser Susan Rice, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey were among those in attendance, the official said.

Meanwhile, Washington and its Western allies are considering sanctions against Moscow.

The US has warned Russia that it would hold the country “directly responsible” if it has threatened use of force against Ukrainian military.

Russian ambassador to the UN saccused Western countries of encouraging acts of terror and violence in Ukraine.

Ukraine has been gripped by unrest since November 2013, when now-ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.