Blinken: I will talk to Lavrov! If there is a war, Russia will face the toughest sanctions

“We continue to see very worrying signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving around Ukraine’s borders,” he said. As I said yesterday, we are at a time when a Russian invasion could begin at any time, if President Putin so decides. “We do not know if President Putin made that decision, but we do know that he has the capacity to act on a very short notice.”

Blinken is in Fiji and from there spoke about the crisis in Ukraine while ordering the evacuation of all staff of the US Embassy in Kiev.

“I have also engaged with counterparts around the world in the ongoing diplomatic efforts in recent days. I spoke with the French Foreign Minister, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, our allies and partners, of course, Australia, India, Japan. I spoke earlier today with my Ukrainian counterpart and I will speak tonight with the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. We have an extraordinary level of unity and common goal. “

Blinken said the US and its allies have made this clear to Moscow. If President Putin decides to take military action, severe economic sanctions will soon be imposed, in coordination with allies and partners around the globe. “Ukraine’s ability to defend itself will be strengthened and we will strengthen our allies on NATO’s eastern flank.”

“I will emphasize this unity and determination when I speak with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov a little later this evening. I will also make it clear, as I have repeatedly done, that if Russia is really interested in resolving this crisis it has created through diplomacy and dialogue, we are prepared to do so. In fact this is our preferred path, it is the right and responsible thing to do, but it has to happen in the context of de-escalation. “So far we have only seen escalation from Moscow. This is a key moment, we are prepared for anything that needs to happen.”

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