Vladimir Putin has said he hopes there will be no new Cold War, as reports suggested there were now more than 30,000 troops in Ukraine's disputed Crimea peninsular.
The estimate is nearly twice the previous figure given by Ukraine's new government in Kiev.
A spokesman for Serhiy Astakhov, head of the Ukrainian border guards, told Reuters the figure included both troops that had arrived over the last week and Russia's Black Sea Fleet, based in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.
Mr Putin's spokesman said despite the deep differences with the West over Ukraine, the Russian President hoped a common ground could be found and there would be no new Cold War.
"There still remains hope ... that some points of agreement can be found as a result of dialogue - which our partners, thank God, have not yet rejected," state-run RIA news agency quoted Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Russian forces outside a military base in Simferopol, Crimea "I believe that it (a new Cold War) has not started and I would like to believe it will not start," he added.
Moscow's forces now have complete control of Crimea, but the only troops Russia claims it has there are the 11,000 in Sevastopol - a claim ridiculed by the West.
The soldiers that have occupied key positions across the region and surrounded Ukrainian troops in their bases wear no badges on their uniforms, but drive vehicles with Russian military number plates.
Defence analyst Francis Tusa told Sky News: "Most of them seem to be in the most recent-issued Russian camouflage uniforms.
Ukraine protester Oksana Prots outside Downing Street in London "They all look well-trained - they just don't look like a ragtag militia that's grown up out of nowhere claiming to protect homes.
"The weapons look very well looked after. They may not be wearing unit badges, but they look like regular, well-trained forces.
"I think it's very difficult to deny the impression they give."
Mr Putin has denied he is "orchestrating events" in Crimea and said he is simply responding to a request for help.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Paralymic Games in Sochi He spoke out after Moscow was warned it faces further sanctions if it fails to pull its forces out of Ukraine, as the gravest post-Cold War stand-off between the West and Russia continues.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said if the first round of sanctions did not work, the West would consider targeting businesses and individuals close to Mr Putin.
In response, Russia said it would "not accept the language of sanctions and threats" and would respond if sanctions were imposed.
Overnight, US President Barack Obama spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for an hour, trying to convince him to accept the terms of a potential diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis.
After the call, the Russian leader said the two sides were still far apart.
It came as Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia, and announced they would be holding a referendum in nine days.
The move has sparked a dramatic escalation in the crisis - and was immediately condemned by Mr Obama - and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who called it an "illegal decision" by Crimean authorities.
Pro-Russians gather outside a military base in Crimea In Russia, the Upper House of Parliament said Crimea had the right to hold a referendum on its future status.
Former Kremlin spin doctor Gleb Pavlovsky said there was now a greater danger of shots being fired in Crimea.
He said: "Russia is encouraging the action of local forces. We are at a very dangerous point, and it threatens to push a political crisis in the direction of a military situation."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Paralympic chief Valeriy Sushkevich said his 23-strong team would compete in the Winter Paralympics in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Mykhaylo Tkachenko of Ukraine bears the flag at 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games But he said they would pull out of the Games if Russian forces invaded mainland Ukraine.
Only biathlete Mykhaylo Tkachenko, bearing the Ukraine national flag, attended the opening ceremony
Mr Obama has ordered sanctions on those responsible for Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine, including bans on travel to America and freezing of their US assets - although a US official said Mr Putin was not on the list of those to be sanctioned.
In a statement released by the Kremlin early on Friday, Mr Putin said Kiev's new authorities had imposed "absolutely illegitimate decisions on the eastern, southeastern and Crimea regions".
"Russia cannot ignore calls for help in this matter and it acts accordingly, in full compliance with the international law," he said.
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