Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, Ukraine still has soviet nuclear technology,” adding that Moscow “cannot fail to respond to this danger.”

Meanwhile, the country’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia “will continue operation in Ukraine until it achieves its goals, per Interfax.

Market reaction

Risk sentiment takes a hit on these above comments, with S&P 500 futures dropping 0.58% on the day.

AUD/USD has stalled its upside while the US dollar index is seeing some fresh signs of life.