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The European Union threatened “massive” economic sanctions if Moscow attacks Ukraine, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rallied allies on Thursday ahead of last-ditch crisis talks with Russia aimed at preventing war.
Western countries are seeking to present a united diplomatic front before Blinken meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday, widely seen as one of the last chances to stop Russia from launching a new attack.
Blinken visited Kyiv on Wednesday and met German, French and British ministers on Thursday in Berlin. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden gave his clearest indication yet that he believes a Russian attack is likely.
“My guess is he will move in,” Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He has to do something.”
Western countries say they fear Russia is planning a new assault against Ukraine, nearly eight years after its forces entered Ukraine and seized the Crimea peninsula. Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine’s border in recent months. It denies planning an attack but says it could take unspecified military action unless a list of demands are met, including a promise from NATO never to admit Kyiv.
Biden and other Western leaders have threatened to impose severe economic sanctions on Russia if it attacks Ukraine again. Russia, under sanctions since 2014, has largely brushed off the threat.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the EU executive, said Europe would respond to a new attack “with massive economic and financial sanctions. The transatlantic community stands firm in this.”
