Ukraine WW3 -- Ukrainian PM Yatseniuk: "We Will Never Surrender"

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After meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk tells the Atlantic Council, "we will never surrender. We will do everything in order to save the country."

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Following a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk addressed the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (March 12), saying Ukraine will "never surrender" to Russia.

"And I am wondering about the goals of Russia. To draw the new lines? To revise the outcomes of the Second World War? To restore the Soviet Union? Or to preserve peace and stability in the region, and to stick to its international obligations," Yatseniuk said.

"And we want to be very clear. We will never surrender. We will do everything in order to save the country, in order to save my people, and in order to have my country as an independent one."

Earlier in the day, President Obama warned Russia that the West will be forced to apply a cost to Moscow if it fails to change course in its dispute with Ukraine.

Obama held face-to-face talks with Yatseniuk in the Oval Office and told reporters with Yatseniuk seated at his side, "We will stand with Ukraine."

Yatseniuk said Ukraine stands ready for talks on the crisis.

Russian troops have seized control of the Black Sea peninsula, where separatists have taken over the provincial government and are preparing for a referendum on Sunday to make the region part of Russia, which the West calls illegal.

Russia's bloodless seizure of the Crimea has brought U.S.-Russian relations to one of their lowest points since the Cold War, with no sign that tensions are easing.