Sanctioning Russia now over Ukraine would undercut deterrence – U.S.’s Blinken

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday rebuffed the concept of imposing economic sanctions on Russia now, saying that doing so would undercut the West’s potential to discourage potential Russian aggression towards Ukraine.

Russia’s massing of troops close to its border with Ukraine has sparked Western considerations that it could invade. If Russia does make an incursion, the West has threatened sanctions with far-reaching financial results. Moscow has mentioned it has no plans to invade.

“In the case of sanctions, the aim of these sanctions is to discourage Russian aggression. And so if they’re triggered now, you lose the deterrent impact,” Blinken instructed CNN’s “State of the Union” program in an interview.

Blinken mentioned if another Russian pressure entered Ukraine in an aggressive method, that may set off a major response.

Requested if U.S. arms had been tied over Ukraine due to its want for Russian help in separate talks on reining Iran’s nuclear program, Blinken, chatting with CBS’s “Face the Nation” program, replied: “Not within the least.”