Russia launched an all-out propaganda campaign Sunday to whip up support for possible military action in Ukraine, as state media and ruling party officials claimed armed marauders were terrorizing the ex-Soviet nation.

Kremlin-controlled media launched a full-scale operation with footage aimed at discrediting the new Kiev authorities and rousing anger at alleged outrages perpetrated against the Russian-speaking population.

Ukraine's navy chief announced Sunday he had switched allegiance to the pro-Russian authorities of the flashpoint peninsula of Crimea, a day after he was appointed to the post by interim leader Oleksandr Turchynov, as Ukraine warned it was on the brink of disaster and called up all military reservists.

"I swear to execute the orders of the (pro-Russia) commander-in-chief of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," Denis Berezovsky said in a televised statement from inside the Crimean headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, adding that he "swears allegiance to the residents of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea."

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper threatened Saturday he may join Washington in snubbing June's G8 summit in Russia over the country's military incursion into Ukraine, and recalled his ambassador to Moscow.

The Russian parliament's decision to give Putin the green light to send troops into neighboring Ukraine triggered international outcry.

U.S. President Barack Obama met with his national security team Saturday to weigh policy options after Russia's parliament endorsed military action in Ukraine, a White House official said.

Senior members of the Washington national security establishment, including General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were earlier seen heading into the White House for the rare Saturday meeting.

Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency, will travel to Ukraine on Sunday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported in an interview with the minister.

Venizelos will first travel to the city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov near Crimea, where there is a large ethnic-Greek community, and then to Kiev, it said.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has sent troops into several neighboring states that it considers as its sphere of influence, including a brief 2008 war with Georgia and an ongoing deployment in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestr.

Russia views these military actions as peacekeeping operations.

No sooner had deadly violence died down in Kiev last week than a menacing video appeared on YouTube, promising a "Great Ukrainian Reconquista" against images of armored vehicles on fire and violent police beatings.

Meet Pravy Sektor, a far-right paramilitary group that rose to prominence during the anti-government protests that rocked Ukraine, prompting warnings that a largely peaceful protest movement had been hijacked by radical elements that could have a major say in politics following the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Russia on Saturday to refrain from deploying its armed forces in Ukraine and to abide by international law.

"I deplore today's decision by Russia on the use of armed forces in Ukraine," she said in a statement. "This is an unwarranted escalation of tensions.

The U.N. Security Council will meet Saturday for a second round of emergency consultations, officials said, after Russia's parliament approved the deployment of troops to Ukraine.

The president of the Security Council, currently Luxembourg, invited members to "informal consultations" at 1900 GMT, a statement said.

President Vladimir Putin on Saturday won approval from Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, to send Russian troops into Ukrainian territory.

Putin's request was approved unanimously. Speaker Valentina Matviyenko also ordered the Council's foreign affairs committee to ask Putin to recall the Russian ambassador from the United States.