- Friday is the first test of whether a deal reached between Russia, Ukraine and the West works
- Russia is under pressure to use its influence to persuade protesters
- President Barack Obama says pact has potential but it may take several days to see results
(CNN) -- Diplomats from Russia, Ukraine and the West may have agreed to steps to easing the crisis in Ukraine -- but Friday will be the first test of whether those words will translate into action.
All eyes will be on Ukraine to see whether pro-Russian protesters in the country's restive east give up the buildings they seized days ago amid calls for greater regional autonomy.
And key to this may be whether Russia uses its influence to make this happen.
The pact agreed in Geneva, Switzerland, calls for all illegal armed groups to be disarmed, all illegally seized buildings to be returned to their legitimate owners and all occupied public spaces to be vacated.
It also promises amnesty for protesters who leave buildings and give up their weapons, apart from those convicted of capital crimes.
All sides agreed to ask for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has a mission in Ukraine, to help implement the measures.
But with tensions still high and Ukraine's security forces in an uneasy standoff with armed protesters who have seized swathes of eastern Ukraine, the challenges of restoring calm remain great.
Even as he announced the pact Thursday, Kerry stressed that the proof of the agreement would be in its swift implementation on the ground.
"The job will not be done until these principles are implemented and are followed up on," he said.
Kerry warned that Russia could face "further costs" if the situation does not de-escalate in line with the concrete steps set out in the statement. Ukraine's leaders must also play their part in calming the situation, he said.
Caution, skepticism greet deal
A few hours later, U.S. President Barack Obama also voiced his skepticism.
"I don't think we can be sure of anything at this point," he said at a press conference on Thursday.
The President also said the United States and its allies "have to be prepared -- potentially -- to respond," to continued efforts by Russia to interfere in southern and eastern Ukraine.
"I think there is the possibility, the prospect, that diplomacy may de-escalate the situation," he said. But, he added, "We're not going to know whether there is follow-through on these statements for several days."
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in an interview with CNN, also said he was happy but cautious after the Geneva talks.
Yatsenyuk said he was willing to grant more autonomy to eastern Ukraine in order to defuse tensions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who took part in the Geneva talks, highlighted the need to protect ethnic Russians from discrimination and include all parties in Ukraine in a national dialogue on constitutional reform.
Obama: Russia must take concrete action
Obama, in a White House news conference, stressed that he has emphasized to Putin that the United States will continue to uphold the basic principles of sovereignty of all countries.
However, he said that military options are still not on the table "because this is not a situation that would be amendable to a clear military solution."
In calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama again called on Russia to "take immediate, concrete actions to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine, including by using its influence over the irregular forces in eastern Ukraine to get them to lay down their arms and leave the buildings they have seized."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed negotiations, while stressing that the situation in Ukraine remains "extremely volatile."
Ban "expects all sides, moving forward, to show their serious intention to continue to engage, in a good-faith effort, and to implement the steps laid out in the Geneva Statement, which will contribute to a lasting solution to this crisis," a U.N. statement read.
Putin: Intervention still an option
The emergency talks in Geneva were called amid a spiraling crisis in Ukraine that has seen East-West relations at their most strained since the end of the Cold War.
The tensions erupted into violence Thursday in the southeastern city of Mariupol, where a gang of 300 attacked a Ukrainian military base, leading to gunfire between the two sides. Meanwhile, in Donetsk, the self-declared chairman of the people's council said he wants a referendum by May 11 to ask residents whether they want sovereignty.
Even as the negotiations in Geneva were under way, Russia's President Vladimir Putin made clear in his annual televised call-in session with the Russian people that military intervention in Ukraine remains an option.
Moscow denies it has any intention of invading -- but says it reserves the right to protect Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. It has warned in the past week that Ukraine is "on the brink of a civil war."
NATO says Russia currently has some 40,000 troops assembled near Ukraine's eastern border. Russia says they are merely conducting military exercises.
In his remarks, Putin also said Russian forces had been active in Ukraine's Crimea region in order to support local defense forces, the first time he has acknowledged the deployment of Russian troops on the Black Sea peninsula.
Russia annexed Crimea last month following a controversial referendum in which almost all those who voted opted to join Russia. The peninsula has a majority Russian-speaking population.
Amid concerns over alleged Russian interference in eastern Ukraine, the authorities in Kiev said Thursday that they were tightening border controls to limit the entry of Russian men aged 16 to 60.
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CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Kellie Morgan and journalist Azad Safarov contributed to this report.
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