U.S. diplomats in Ukraine have warned Russian military officials and officers during a crisis meeting in Kiev on Friday that the U.S. will “use our high impact offensive economic tools” if Russia continues actions that are “illegal” in Ukraine.
According to CNN on Friday , Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a message to Russia during the Ukraine Crisis Management Group meeting that the U.S. wants to continue working with Ukraine, but if Russia fails to act in a way that is “democratic and constitutional” and are “legal and respects Ukrainian sovereignty,” the U.S. “will insist that we move in a different direction.”
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Blinken said the U.S. is considering cutting Russia funding for regional aid programs like those supported in Ukraine.
As Blinken pointed out in his statement Friday, an increasingly aggressive Russia could be encouraged by the alleged collusion investigation, the so-called “witch hunt” against President Donald Trump and America’s “weak” response to the role of Russia in an attempt to “provoke U.S. military and diplomatic actions against it.”