Obama: US to support Ukraine against ‘Russian aggression’

US President Barack Obama has warned Russia about bullying other countries, expressing his country’s opposition to “Russian aggression” in Ukraine.

During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Obama said the US support for Ukraine has left Moscow isolated.

"Well, today, it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters," said the president.

"We're upholding the principle that bigger nations can't bully the small -- by opposing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine's democracy, and reassuring our NATO allies," Obama added.

Commenting on Obama’s remarks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Washington’s attempts to isolate Russia do not work.

“We hear from our Western partners that Russia has to be isolated,” said Lavrov. “Specifically, Barack Obama has just repeated that. These attempts won’t be effective. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will never resort to self-isolation.”

The Russian foreign minister said Obama’s State of the Union speech showed that Washington aims at dominating the world and required all the rest to acknowledge their superiority.

Ties between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated over the crisis in Ukraine. The US and its allies accuse Moscow of sending troops into eastern Ukraine in support of the pro-Russian forces. Russia, however, denies the accusation.

Since last year, the United States and European Union have set up a network of sanctions on Moscow.