The United States today asked the families of all American staff at the US Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country immediately as tension between Russia and Ukraine mounting with further deployment of Russian troops on the border.
The State Department also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine immediately.
Increasing Russian military activity has fuelled concern in Washington and other Western capitals that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, however, Moscow has insisted it has no plans for an invasion.
The US Embassy in Kyiv warned that “military action by Russia could come at any time and the United States government will not be in a position to evacuate American citizens in such a contingency, so US citizens currently present in Ukraine should plan accordingly.”
Speaking on Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rebuffed calls to immediately impose economic sanctions on Russia, saying that doing so would undercut the West’s ability to deter any potential Russian aggression against Ukraine.
“When it comes to sanctions, the purpose of those sanctions is to deter Russian aggression. And so if they are triggered now, you lose the deterrent effect,” Blinken told CNN in an interview on Sunday.
Blinken said if a “single additional Russian force goes into Ukraine in an aggressive” manner, that would trigger a significant response.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he supported imposing sanctions now, a view endorsed by Republican legislators on Sunday.
“We need to act now. When it comes to pushing back against Russia, we need to show strength and not be in a position of … appeasement,” Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons, an ally of US President Joe Biden, argued for passing bipartisan US legislation to “show resolve and determination and apply some sanctions now”, but said it was best to keep the strongest sanctions in reserve.
“The very strongest sanctions, the sorts of sanctions that we use to bring Iran to the table, is something that we should hold out as a deterrent,” he told ABC News.
Asked if US hands were tied over Ukraine because of a need for Russian support in talks on reining in Iran’s nuclear programme, Blinken told CBS News: “Not in the least.”
