(Fixes translation in last quote)
KYIV, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Russia wants to sow panic and distrust and destabilise Ukraine's financial system, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken met Ukraine's leadership on the first leg of a new diplomatic push to avert war after Russia massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders.
"The greatest achievement of Russia today will be the sowing of panic, distrust in Ukrainian society ... destabilising us from the inside, destabilising our economy, our financial system," he said. "We must make every effort to prevent Russia from achieving this goal without even taking weapons out of pockets." (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Alison Williams)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.