He said the US and its allies were ready to impose new sanctions on Russia if the situation failed to improve.
Russian, Ukrainian, EU and US foreign ministers agreed that illegal military groups in Ukraine should leave places they have been occupying.
Russia denies fomenting separatism in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Government buildings in several towns and cities have been seized by pro-Russian separatists opposed to new Western-leaning interim authorities in the capital Kiev.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called Thursday's talks a "good day's work", but said words had to be turned into actions.
All sides agreed that illegal military groups in Ukraine must be dissolved, and that those occupying buildings must be disarmed and leave them.
The foreign ministers also agreed that there would be an amnesty for all anti-government protesters.
US-UK resolve
But speaking in Washington just hours later, President Obama expressed scepticism as to whether Russia would keep its side of the bargain.
These pro-unity protesters took to the streets in Donetsk
"My hope is that we actually do see follow-through over the next several days, but I don't think, given past performance, that we can count on that," he said.
"We have to be prepared that we can actually respond to what continue to be efforts of interference by the Russians in eastern and southern Ukraine," he added.
In a telephone call with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, the two leaders agreed that the United States and Europe are prepared to take further measures to impose a new round of sanctions if Russia failed to help restore order.
"We have put in place additional consequences that we can impose on the Russians if we do not see actual improvement of the situation on the ground," Mr Obama said.
The UK is to provide an additional £1m to support the expansion of the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27075713
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