The United States and its allies are prepared to respond to Russian cyberattacks amid escalating tensions over Ukraine, US and European officials said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The scope of retaliatory actions or sanctions would depend on the severity of the hacks, the officials added.
US President Joe Biden, speaking hours after Ukraine reported its defense ministry and two banks had been hacked, told reporters earlier on Tuesday that Washington was coordinating closely with NATO allies and other partners to expand defenses against threats in cyberspace.
The attacks, believed by Western security experts to have been carried out by Russia, were not unexpected, US and European officials said, requesting anonymity.
"The president has said we will respond to Russian actions short of a military invasion," said one US official quoted by Reuters. "But what is decided depends on the extent of the cyberattacks. There are so many ranges, it's hard to go into specifics."
One European diplomat said cyberattacks were a longstanding component of Russian strategy, and had been used by Moscow in past military confrontations with Georgia and Ukraine.
The response could involve actions other than sanctions, including physical or cyberattacks on servers involved, said one cyber expert familiar with Western planning.
Biden on Tuesday warned the Russian people against waging a "bloody, destructive war" in Ukraine.
"To the citizens of Russia, you are not our enemy," he said. "And I do not believe you want a bloody destructive war against Ukraine, a country and the people with whom you share such deep ties of family history and culture."
"We should give the diplomacy every chance to succeed, and I believe there are real ways to address our respective security concerns," he said. "The United States has put on the table concrete idea to establish a security environment in Europe. We're proposing new arms control measures, new transparency measures, new strategic stability measures. These measures will apply to all parties, NATO and Russia alike."
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have mounted in recent weeks, after Russia amassed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine.
On Tuesday, however, Russia announced that some of the soldiers on the Ukrainian border had been recalled to their bases.