US Secretary of State John Kerry - Interview re: Russia with ABC's "This Week" lyrics

TERRY MORAN, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: In just a few dramatic days, Vladimir Putin has shown the world two sides of his dominating leadership style as ruler of Russia. First, there was Sochi. The Olympic games were Putin's personal project, seven years of work, $50 billion spent all to send a single overriding message as he told George Stephanopoulos just before the games began. VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): I would very much like during the Olympics for the athletes, visitors, reporters and those who will follow the Olympics on TV through the media for people to see a new Russia. MORAN: Then came Ukraine. After revolution in Kiev, Russian tanks, choppers and troops moved into Crimea, an older, darker image of Russian power. But Putin has done this before. 2008, Russian troops invade the neighboring nation of Georgia. Putin declares he is defending ethnic Russians there, the same rationale for his moves in Ukraine. The U.S. and European allies object, but six years later Russian troops remain in Georgia. Now, Putin has put the world on notice he is willing to use military force in Ukraine and risk another conflict with the U.S. and the west. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are (inaudible) cold war, but we are on the edge of (inaudible). MORAN: Here's why, Ukraine is a divided nation. Kiev and the west in the country yearn to join Europe and the U.S. and forge a different future while in Crimea and the east where so many ethnic Russian live, they look to Moscow. And Moscow has used Crimea as a major Russian naval base for 200 years. On Friday, Obama tried to send his own message to Putin. OBAMA: That there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine. MORAN: Hours later, Russian troops were on the move and Putin was authorizing more. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: It's pretty clear that maybe the president of the United States has been a bit naive about Vladimir Putin and his ambitions. (END VIDEOTAPE) MORAN: To be fair, George W. Bush did no better managing Putin even though he declared he'd looked into his soul. The fact is, Putin cares more about being feared than loved in the world and he cares most about restoring Russia's greatness through pageantry or raw power. His next move, it's clear, solidify control over Crimea and make sure that Ukraine never moves too close to the west or else -- George. STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks, Terry. We are joined now by Secretary of State John Kerry. Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us this morning. We've got these reports now, Russian forces surrounding Ukrainian military bases in the Crimea. Ukraine's prime minister says we are on the brink of disaster. Is he right? KERRY: Well, we hope not. We hope it's not going to be a disaster. What has already happened is a brazen act of aggression, in violation of international law and violation of the UN Charter and violation of the Helsinki final act. In violation of the 1997 Ukraine-Russia basing agreement. Russia is engaged in a military act of aggression against another country, and it has huge risks, George. It's a 19th century act in the 21st century. It really puts at question Russia's capacity to be within the G-8. STEPHANOPOULOS: I understand (ph) it's a violation, sir. So what's the penalty for what Russia has already done? KERRY: Well, we are busy right now coordinating with our counterparts in many parts of the world. Yesterday, the president of the United States had an hour and a half conversation with President Putin. He pointed out importantly that we don't want this to be a larger confrontation. We are not looking for a U.S.-Russia, East-West redux here. What we want is for Russia to work with us, with Ukraine. If they have legitimate concerns, George, about Russian speaking people in Ukraine, there are plenty of ways to deal with that without invading the country. They have the ability to work with the government, they could work with us, they could work with the UN. They could call for observers to be put in the country. There are all kinds of alternatives. But Russia has chosen this aggressive act, which really puts in question Russia's role in the world and Russia's willingness to be a modern nation and part of the G8. I think there are, you know, they are inviting the possibility of very serious repercussions on trade, on investment, on a**ets, a**et freeze, visa bonds (ph). The potential of actions by the global community against this unilateral step. STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, let me (inaudible), specified. Is the United States willing to impose sanctions if Russia does not back down? Are you willing to go to Ukraine and show solidarity with the Ukrainians if Russia does not back down? KERRY: Absolutely. And the United States and the president is currently considering all options. They are all on the table. We will call on Congress immediately to the degree that they are prepared to be helpful that they immediately lay down with us an economic package in order to a**ist Ukraine. We think it's very important for the international entities, the OSCE, the UN, NATO, the North Atlantic Council, the EU Foreign Affairs Council, which will meet tomorrow, all need to weigh in. And I believe they will weigh in heavily. STEPHANOPOULOS: So let me just pin you down on that. You say that Congress is considering military aid to Ukraine. You want Congress to pa** military aid to Ukraine. But do you want to impose economic sanctions – economically, excuse me. Do you want them to impose economic sanctions on Russia? KERRY: They welcome that we would have to engage in that kind of activity, absolutely. I think all options are on the table. There's no question but that Russia needs to understand this is serious, and we and other friends and allies engaged in this are all deadly serious about this. You cannot behave this way in the 21st century and sit around the table with the normal entities and pretend that life is as usual. It is not going to be as usual, but we believe there is an alternative. We call on Russia to engage with the government of Ukraine. We're prepared to work very closely with Russia in order to address whatever legitimate concerns may exist. We believe there are many alternatives before you get to an invasion, and none of those have been tried at this point in time. STEPHANOPOULOS: But the invasion has already happened, sir, hasn't it? KERRY: The invasion of Crimea has already happened, that's absolutely accurate. And we believe that President Putin should make the decision to roll it back, and we will continue to press for that, as well as for his legitimate engagement with the current government of Ukraine in order to avoid further increase in the tension in the Crimea. STEPHANOPOULOS: Sir, are there any military options on the table? During the crisis with Georgia, President Bush moved military warships to the region, sent humanitarian aid on a military aircraft. Is the U.S. prepared to do that now? Anything more? KERRY: George, the hope of the United States and everybody in the world is not to see this escalate into a military confrontation. That will not serve the world well, and I think everybody understands that. The president has all options on the table, but the president's preference was clearly stated yesterday in his hour and a half conversation with President Putin. President Obama made it clear that we are prepared to work with Russia. We understand that Russia has interests in Crimea. The Ukraine government is prepared to respect the base agreement. Nobody threatened those Russia interests. And we are prepare to stand up against any hooligans, any thuggery, any individual efforts with Russians in order to create stability in Ukraine and allow the people of Ukraine to make their choices for the future. STEPHANOPOULOS: But do you have any indication at all that President Putin is taking heat (inaudible) as President Obama is saying? KERRY: Well, they just had the conversation yesterday, and the president invited in to engage with the government. I understand there may have been one phone call. We're going to continue to engage diplomatically. This is a time for diplomacy, and we will engage diplomatically as much as we can in order to steal this away from the increase in the tension of the level of the crisis. Nobody wants this to spiral into a bad or worse direction. The fact is that there are many options available to Russia, by which Russia can see its interests met. And the most important thing to remember here is, this is not or should not be East-West, Russia-United States, Russia versus Europe. This is about the people of Ukraine, people who stood up against snipers, firing at them from the roofs, who are fighting against the tyranny of having political opposition put in jail. And President Putin I think needs to think carefully about Russia' real interest here. You know, Russia may be able to invade Crimea, but in the end, Russia will isolate itself, there will be a cost to the economy of Russia, cost to Russian businesses, cost to Russia individuals, and ultimately I think Russia will isolate itself on a global stage that it just spent $60 billion through the Olympics to try to present a different face on. It seems to me that if Russia were to step back and look at where its interests are, we ought to be able to work this out through the diplomatic process. If Russia chooses not to, there will be serious repercussions. STEPHANOPOULOS: Do those repercussions include the U.S. not going to the G8 summit in Sochi come this summer, sir? KERRY: It is a distinct possibility. We would hope rather that Russia will choose to engage with us, to work with the government of Ukraine, choose a different direction. Russia has cooperated with us on the START treaty ,on Afghanistan, on Iran. It ought to be possible to find legitimacy in this particular moment in order to be able to deal in a way that serves the world much better than this choice they've made. We're open to that. We encourage that. President Obama made it clear he prefers that. But the choice is really up to Russia at this point. STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for your time this morning. KERRY: Thank you.