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US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that Washington would "completely reject "any decision by Crimean voters to break from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation in Sunday's referendum.

Obama made the pledge as he welcomed Ukraine's interim Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, to the Oval Office of the White House.

Yatsenyuk, who was scheduled to address the United Nations on Thursday, declared that his country "will never surrender" in its fight to protect its territory, according to The Associated Press.

He was quoted by Russia's RIA Novosti News Agency as saying that Kiev hopes to sign the political chapters of an association agreement with the European Union next week.

A US Senate committee advanced a package of potentially tough economic sanctions against Moscow on Wednesday, the AP reported, adding pressure on Russia.

The Senate bill would authorize $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine.

Obama warned that if Sunday's Crimean referendum goes ahead, Western powers "will be forced to apply a cost to Russia's violation of international law".

US Secretary of State John Kerry also struck a hawkish note. He told Congress, "It can get ugly fast if the wrong choices are made, and it can get ugly in multiple directions."

Kerry will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in London on Friday in a bid to halt the vote in Crimea, an autonomous republic in Ukraine.

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