Russia faces ‘massive consequences’ if it escalates aggression against Ukraine, Antony Blinken warns
- Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will hold more talks next week, with a key topic being Moscow’s massing of troops and military equipment on the Ukrainian border
- ‘We’ve been clear with Russia about what it will face if it continues on its path, including economic measures that we haven’t used before,’ Blinken says
“It’ll be very difficult to make actual progress if Russia continues to escalate its military build-up and its inflammatory rhetoric,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Washington.
“And we’ve been clear with Russia about what it will face if it continues on its path, including economic measures that we haven’t used before. Massive consequences,” he said.
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Biden warns Putin of strong economic sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine
Administration officials have not offered any details about what such a sanctions package would look like. But a senior State Department official speaking to reporters later on Friday described them as “an order of magnitude more serious than anything we’ve done before”, and said the US was “unified” with allies about moving ahead with the punitive measures should Russia engage in further aggression.