US orders families of all American embassy staff in Kyiv to leave Ukraine

Sky News has reported that ''the US has ordered the families of all American embassy staff in Kyiv to leave Ukraine amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion.''

This follows earlier news at the start of the day that "the UK has accused Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of plotting to install a pro-Moscow figure to lead Ukraine's government,'' as per the BBC:

• Russia/Ukraine tensions rising: British gov says it has uncovered a plot by Moscow to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev

Meanwhile, the US State Department has told the dependants of staffers at the US embassy in Ukraine's capital that they must leave the country and said that non-essential employees could also leave at government expense, Sky reports. 

Additionally, the US President, Joe Biden, is weighing the implications in deploying warships and aircraft to NATO allies well as deploying several thousand US troops in the Baltics and Eastern Europe.

Market implications

The safe havens would be expected to benefit, such as gold, US dollar, yen, and to a lesser degree, CHF (considering the euro's vulnerability to escalating tensions and surging gas prices over tight Russian supplies; any weakness in the euro as a consequence would be a concern to the Swiss National Bank). As it stands, the US dollar is outperforming.