Geoffrey R. PyattU.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Russian troops crossing Ukraine's borders would be a major escalation, and would draw an inevitable, sharp reaction from the United States, and I think that is understood by everybody. It would be a dramatically, unfortunate development, which I think would produce only the most tragic consequences.
Our advice would be to encourage the government to continue on the course that it has been pursuing -- of seeking a strategy to cordon these cities, to use their security forces, and the army if necessary, to ensure that weapons, money, instability are not trafficked in and out of these cities. But not to engage in the forceful clearing of these buildings.