The United States ratcheted up its threats of retaliation against Russia as it accused Moscow of stepping up preparations for an invasion of Ukraine, the latest indicator that anxieties over Moscow's military buildup on the border continue to rise.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Russia to halt its efforts to destabilize Ukraine, saying that any Russian military intervention would have "grave consequences."
Blinken warned at a NATO summit in Latvia that if Russia invaded its neighbor, the U.S. would implement "high-impact economic sanctions that we have refrained from deploying in the past."
"We have no idea whether President Putin has decided to attack Ukraine," Blinken said at the conclusion of a NATO summit in Latvia.
"We do know that he is putting the infrastructure in place to do it quickly if he so chooses," Blinken said.
Blinken is expected to convey to Lavrov the possibility of additional penalties if Russia does not immediately halt its force buildup along Ukraine's border and to remind him that a diplomatic solution is possible, a senior State Department official told reporters.
Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that aspires to join the European Union and NATO, has emerged as the primary flashpoint between Russia and the West, as ties have deteriorated to their lowest point in 30 years since the Cold War ended.
Ukraine reported that Russia has stationed over 90,000 troops near their long shared border.
Moscow accused Kyiv of following its own military modernization strategy. It has denied as incendiary claims that it is ready to attack Ukraine, but reaffirmed its right to deploy troops on its own territory as it sees fit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave no indication that he had been deterred by weeks of warnings from the U.S. and its allies accusing NATO of posing a threat to Russia.
Putin wanted "legally enforceable" security guarantees that NATO weaponry would not enter Ukraine.
In an interview with CNN's Jim Sciutto, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the alliance has "a broad range of options: economic sanctions, financial penalties, and political constraints."
Blinken's remarks, which are his most forceful to date on the subject, come as he prepares to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Stockholm on Thursday, a State Department official said.
In 2014, the Kremlin annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and subsequently backed separatists fighting Kyiv government forces in the country's east. According to Kyiv, this battle has claimed 14,000 lives and is still raging.
