• Western leaders may escalate sanctions if Russia does not call its troops home to their bases.

• Market uncertainty may increase due to Blinken-Lavrov’s meeting call-off.

Silver (XAG/USD), falls from $24.10 at the Asian session lows as US Secretary Antony Blinken leaves meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister. Moscow's arbitrariness is responsible for the departure of the former. The threat of Western leaders imposing sanctions has been underestimated by the Kremlin. This has fueled the risk-off impulse on the markets, and eventually silver prices rose.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin called two areas in eastern Ukraine 'Independent'. This confirmed warnings by the West that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine. After receiving support from separatist leaders, Moscow built troops in these areas. The West had to impose sanctions on Russia as a result. The West leaders may escalate sanctions if Russia does not call its troops home to their bases.

The US Dollar index (DXY), is consolidating in a narrow range between 30 and 40 pips during the Asian session, as it fails to capitalize on the Blinken–Lavrov meeting call-off. The odds of an aggressive Federal Reserve (Fed), monetary policy are losing momentum, which has weakened the dollar against silver.

Technical Analysis XAG/USD

Silver (XAG/USD), on a 4-hour scale, is trading in a rising channel. Every pullback towards the lower trendline can be considered an opportunity to enter long positions. Bulls are optimistic about more upside, as the Exponential Moving Average (EMA), for 50 and 200 periods is trading higher. The Relative Strength Index (14) is holding comfortably above 60.00 and shows no signs of overbought or divergence.