Washington.- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly have coordinated to impose “massive consequences and severe economic costs” on Russia if it proceeds with an invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken and Joly had a telephone conversation in which they agreed to express their concern about the threat that Russia poses to Ukraine and discussed ways to convince the government of Vladimir Putin to choose diplomacy, the State Department said in a statement. Blinken also reiterated in his call with Joly the US’s “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The first batch of additional military aid promised by the US to Ukraine in the face of tensions on the border with Russia arrived in Kiev on Saturday, the US Embassy in the Slavic country reported.
“The first of several shipments for a total of 200 million (dollars) in security assistance for the Armed Forces. from Ukraine, authorized by President (Joe) Biden in December, arrived at the Boríspol airport, Kiev”, the diplomatic legation communicated through a message on its social networks.
In an attempt to reduce tensions around Ukraine, Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, held a meeting in Geneva (Switzerland) on Friday, without that meeting yielding any concrete results.