Russia-Ukraine LIVE: US claims Putin has ‘authorised’ invasion ‘actually received orders!’

The US has refused to impose sanctions on Russia despite mounting pressure from Kiev, it has emerged.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has challenged the Western policy of only sanctioning Moscow after they invade Ukraine.

He asked the crowd gathered at a security conference in Munich on Saturday: 

“You tell me 100% that there will be war in a few days’ time.

“What are you waiting for?”

He added: 

“We will not need your sanctions after there is a bombardment, or after our state is shot at, or if we have no more borders, we do not have an economy, or parts of our state is occupied.”

But US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, rebuked this as counterproductive to their deterrence strategy.

He told CNN: “The purpose of the sanctions in the first instance is to try to deter Russia from going to war.

“As soon as you trigger them that deterrence is gone.”