U.S. preparing 'a range of options' in response to Russia's aggression - Psaki

Washington, in addition to imposing economic sanctions against Russia, is ready to use a range of other options, including by strengthening security assistance to Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said.

She said this at a briefing at the White House on Thursday, December 2, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Our Secretary of State is still on the ground having these conversations with our European partners. And anything we would do, we would do in close coordination with them," Psaki said when asked what response the United States was preparing to Russia's aggression beyond economic sanctions.

In this regard, she stressed that one of the topics of consultations with partners was providing assistance to Ukraine in the field of security.

"We have provided a great deal of assistance over the course of the last several months. So that's another area obviously we would look at," Psaki said.

She noted that the United States, in cooperation with its allies and partners in Europe, was discussing "a range of options" in response to Russia's aggressive behavior, but did not go into detail, saying the negotiation process is still underway.

Psaki also said that the United States was in direct dialogue with Russia on this issue.

"We have conveyed directly to the Russians that if they proceed, as they did in 2014, we have a range of options that we will consider taking," she added.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a NATO ministerial meeting in Riga on December 1 that the United States was ready to respond to Russia's aggression with high-impact economic measures that they had refrained from using in the past. He also said that U.S. allies in NATO fully share this position.

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