United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rebuffed calls to immediately impose economic sanctions on Russia, saying that doing so would undercut the West’s ability to deter potential Russian aggression against Ukraine. Blinken did warn though that if a “single additional Russian force goes into Ukraine in an aggressive” manner, that would trigger a significant response. Al Jazeera reports that later on Sunday, the State Department ordered the departure of eligible family members of staff from its embassy in Ukraine and said all citizens should consider leaving “due to the continued threat of Russian military action”. Meanwhile on Saturday, the first shipment of the US’s $200m security support package for Ukraine arrived in Kyiv.
