Russia-Ukraine News Live: Putin gets nod from Russia's upper house to use military force

In the latest development, Russia's Upper House has granted permission to Putin to use military force outside the country, a day after the Donbass region received recognition from Russia.  

There are currently no grounds for imposing martial law in Ukraine and limiting the media space, according to Ukrainian National Broadcasts. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced at ICTV’s Freedom of Speech panel show, answering the question of whether a decision on martial law and restrictions on the information space should be expected, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

The US seeks diplomatic solution to defuse the tensions along Ukraine's borders, the White House said. Addressing a press briefing, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that they remain engaged with Russian government in full coordination with their allies, however, the path for diplomacy remains available if "Russia chooses to engage constructively." She added, "We're seeing new Russian forces have been arriving at the Ukrainian border every day. As we have said before, we're in the window when an invasion could begin at any time."

"The path for diplomacy remains available if Russia chooses to engage constructively. However, we are clear-eyed about the prospects of that, given the steps Russia is taking on the ground, in plain sight," Karine Jean-Pierre said in the press briefing. 

US President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom. During the call, both sides discussed their recent diplomatic engagements with Ukraine and Russia, according to the readout of the call released by the White House. Biden and Johnson reviewed ongoing diplomatic and deterrence efforts in response to Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine’s borders. US President and Britain PM reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. During the call, the two sides highlighted the close coordination between allies and readiness to impose severe consequences on Russia, in case of further military escalation. Both leaders emphasised that the Ukraine invasion could result in "protracted crisis" for Russia and will damage both Russia and the world. They called for Western allies to stay united amid Russian threats including imposing package of sanctions if Russia takes any further military action. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced that US is in the process of "temporarily relocating" the  Embassy operations in Ukraine from Kyiv to Lviv citing Russian troops buildup. Blinken informed that the embassy will remain engaged with the Ukrainian government and coordinating diplomatic engagement in Ukraine. He "strongly" urged remaining Americans in Ukraine to immediately leave the country. Blinken highlighted that they will continue their efforts reach a diplomatic solution and remain engaged with the Russian government.

"The path for diplomacy remains available if Russia chooses to engage in good faith. We look forward to returning our staff to the Embassy as soon as conditions permit," Antony Blinken said in a statement. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he has been informed that Russia will attack on February 16. The Ukrainian leader made the remarks in an address to his nation posted on Facebook. The statement of Zelensky comes at a time of the heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine. In the statement released on Facebook, Zelensky wrote that Ukraine will hold a Day of Unity on Wednesday and added that the decree has already been signed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Monday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. During the call, Antony stressed that the US and its allies remain united in the "commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including its economic and financial stability," according to the readout released by the State Department. Antony Blinken highlighted that the immediate priority of the United States is to support efforts to de-escalate the situation. He further warned that any further military aggression by Russia against Ukraine will be met with a "swift, coordinated, and forceful response." The call between Kuleba and Blinken comes a day after the phone call between US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the situation is "very very dangerous and difficult" and added, "we are on the edge of a precipice." Speaking to reporters in Scotland, he asserted that there was "still time" for Russian President Vladimir Putin to "step back." Johnson further said that they are calling on everyone to hold talks and "for the Russian government to avoid what would be a disastrous mistake for Russia."

The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 1,747 points while the Nifty crashed below the 17,000-level on Monday as escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions sparked a retreat from riskier assets globally.
 

Russia's top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin on Monday to keep talking with the West on Moscow's security demands, a signal from the Kremlin that it intends to continue diplomatic efforts amid US warnings of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won't allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and that the alliance will halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe, the demands flatly rejected by the West.

Speaking at a meeting with Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that Moscow should hold more talks with the U.S. and its allies despite their refusal to consider the main Russian demands.

The talks can't go on indefinitely, but I would suggest to continue and expand them at this stage, Lavrov said, noting that Washington has offered to conduct dialogue on limits for missile deployments in Europe, restrictions on military drills and other confidence-building measures.

(AP)

Stocks fell in morning trading on Wall Street Monday as investors watch the developing situation in Ukraine as Russia amasses troops on the border.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 10:16 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 323 points, or 0.9%, to 34,408 and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%.

Smaller company stocks held up better than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 rose 0.1%. Health care companies and banks were among the biggest weights dragging the market lower. Pfizer shed 3.3% and Citigroup fell 1.4%.

Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2% from 1.94% late Friday.

(AP)
 

Ukrainian Embassy to the UK had said on Twitter that there is “no change for NATO membership plans" as it cited the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's constitutional amendment made in 2019. Ukraine asserted that joining NATO has been enshrined in its constitution.

Kyiv was responding to comments made by Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko who earlier told BBC Radio 5 Live that Ukraine can drop its bid to join NATO in order to avoid war with Russia. He although later backtracked on his statement after a spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine’s NATO and EU membership aspirations "remain an 'unconditional priority' for Kyiv."

In his statement earlier on BBC Radio, Ukraine's ambassador to Kyiv had stated: "We are not a member of NATO right now and to avoid war we are ready for many concessions and that is what we are doing in our conversations with Russia," Prystaiko said. "It has nothing to do with NATO which is enshrined in the constitution." He continued, "It is not a delay to our ambitions to be in NATO—what we are talking about is that we are not in the family now so we have to look for something else like bilateral agreements with the UK with the United States."

 "So on top of NATO we are looking for some other arrangements which would allow us to survive at this particular ordeal right now," Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko had stated. 

President Vladimir Putin has expressed his intention of holding constructive talks with the US, as he held televised meetings with his foreign and defense ministers on Monday, according to Russian state-affiliated media reports. Putin has countered Washington’s warnings, stressing that Russia would rather de-escalate tensions as he demanded the security guarantees from NATO. Putin also insisted on continued efforts for finding a diplomatic resolution to the tensions. 

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile told President Vladimir Putin that Kremlin will keep attempting to make the efforts to reach a diplomatic outcome with the West, including the US. Putin said “all right” in response, as per state TV meeting between Lavrov, Putin met Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Kremlin, though, did not reveal its intention of returning the troops to their bases. 

Greece’s foreign ministry has said that two of its expatriates have been killed and another two are seriously wounded in an incident that involves Ukrainian soldiers. Greece's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, has requested to speak by telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba urgently. The Greek ministry issued a statement, saying that the Ukrainian soldiers were “responsible” for the deaths of its officials.

The incident has occurred on the European side at the “line of contact” where the pro-Russian separatist forces have been fighting the Ukrainian soldiers in the Donbas since 2014 Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

We express our deepest sorrow for the sudden death of two expatriates and the serious injury of two others in the village of Granitna, which is located near the contact line in Eastern Ukraine, said Greece's Foreign ministry.  We also express our sincere condolences to the families of the victims, as well as wishes for a speedy recovery of the injured, it added.

“The ongoing Russian military build-up at Ukraine’s borders is a cause for grave concern,” read a joint statement from the Group of Seven (G7) Finance Ministers on Monday, February 14 as they hurled urgency of dealing with the crisis. The arrangement pushed for the efforts to identify a diplomatic path towards de-escalation of the tensions, as it called for the countries involved in drafting a resolution “to act swiftly and decisively”. 

“We are united in our resolve to protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity as well as economic and financial stability of Ukraine,” the joint statement from the G7 read, adding that efforts must be made to support the Ukrainian economy in an event of an armed conflict. 

READ FULL STORY HERE

Poland, the European Union nation has announced that it will start to accept refugees on the border from Ukraine that will flee the “war" and will house them in hostels, dormitories, sports facilities and other venues. The EU nation has said that it is “making preparations to accept Ukrainian refugees in the event of another Russian attack on that country,” Associated Press reports. The Polish government, though added, that it hopes that the worst-case scenario can be averted and a diplomatic path can be established. 

“Similar preparations are being made across the region, particularly in those nations which share borders with Ukraine,” AP has reported, citing official sources. 

Poland's deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz, told Radio Plus: “In this worst-case scenario, we are not talking about hundreds or thousands, but much larger numbers." He added that the Interior Ministry has been preparing “internal scenarios, infrastructure and plans” for many weeks.

Russia's top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin on Monday to continue talks with the West on Russian security demands amid tensions over Ukraine. Speaking at the start of a meeting with Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that Moscow should continue a dialogue with the US and its allies even though they have rejected Russia's main Russian security demands.

He noted that the US has offered to conduct dialogue on limits for missile deployments in Europe, restrictions on military drills and other confidence-building measures.

Asked by Putin if it made sense to continue diplomatic efforts, Lavrov responded that possibilities for talks haven't been exhausted and proposed to continue the negotiations. The meeting came as as Germany's chancellor began a trip to Kyiv and Moscow for a last-ditch attempt to head off a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine that some warn could be only days away.

[With AP Inputs]

Russia’s deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, Russian armed forces, Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, on Monday warned that the Russian military will “fire” on foreign ships and submarines that illegally intrude its territorial waters. His remarks came as Russia claimed that its anti-submarine Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer chased off a US submarine near the Kuril Islands earlier yesterday, a report Washington rejected. Threatening the West of sailing any vessels near Russia, the military official asserted that any such move will be dealt with after a decision taken only at the "highest level,” the Interfax news agency reported. 

Russia earlier denounced the US Navy submarine for not only sailing into Russia’s territorial waters but also ignoring the demands of Russian forces to come on the surface immediately, the Russian defense ministry informed. The crew of the frigate "used appropriate means" and chased the US sub, it said, adding that the US submarine “left at full speed.” 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday, February 14, announced that he will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future, the Telegram channel, Pul Pervogo, reported an update on Monday. The authoritarian Belarusian leader’s announcement comes as Russia and Belarus kick-started the joint war drills, in what NATO labelled the display of the biggest troop deployment to Belarus since the Cold War.

The two longtime allies launched 10 days of military drills viewed as a belligerent and aggressive posture towards Ukraine, and groundwork for an invasion as Kyiv is now surrounded by Russian troops on three sides. 

READ FULL STORY HERE

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has called the regional tensions between Moscow and Kyiv “the most dangerous moment” and the “biggest security crisis” ever faced by Europe and the world. As the Russian troops figure increased to 30,000 and the massive military exercises started in Belarus uncertainties loomed among the NATO countries and the West over how the situation developed. Russia also kick-started the naval drills in the Black Sea choking key ports for Ukraine that cut off the latter from the West. Army tanks, fighter aircraft, and the advanced S-400 air defense system are all involved in the Allied Resolve exercises. 

Soldiers of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment line up vehicles at the military airfield in Vilseck, Germany, to defend NATO allies from Russia. Credit: AP

Ukraine's Gen. Oleksandr Pavliuk, commander of the Joint Forces Operation, gestures during a visit to frontline positions outside Avdiivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. Credit: AP

“This is probably the most dangerous moment, I would say, in the course of the next few days, in what is the biggest security crisis that Europe has faced in decades,” UK prime minister Boris Johnson told a news conference.

He acknowledged NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg's concerns about the Russian forces “going up” very quickly. “The warning time for a possible attack is going down,” NATO chief warned as airlines, worldwide, resort to avoiding Ukraine’s airspace. 

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Russia's ground attack aircraft troops have installed tents at Luninets airfield, Belarus. Credit: AP

Russia meanwhile lambasted the West, as it once again accused NATO of threatening Russia’s national security. “Unlike the exercises, Russia is holding on its territory, after which the troops return to their barracks, NATO, UK, Canadian and US armed forces are spreading far from UK, US, and Canadian territory to the Baltic states and the Black Sea,” Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted, according to Interfax. “And those troops and deployments, as a rule, never return home,” he added. 

As Russia and Belarusian defense forces conducted the joint military exercises with up to 30,000 soldiers blanketing the regions along Kyiv’s borders,  Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, said: “The accumulation of forces at the border is psychological pressure from our neighbours.” His remarks came as NATO countries, and Washington warned that Russian leader Putin has completed over 70% of troop deployment needed to launch an offensive on Kyiv. 

While Kremlin in a statement has said that Russian troops will return home after the drills, Kyiv, wary of Russia’s intentions has launched its own military drill to deter Russia. Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian land forces, has mobilized over 10,000 troops that he said were involved in Ukraine’s exercises, sources told Guardian newspaper.

“We have specifically moved training of the armed forces towards the most dangerous lines of possible enemy offence,” Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi announced. 

Syrskyi separately spoke to Australia's Sky News and asserted that Ukraine is "ready & capable and we will not give up a single meter of Ukrainian land without a fight." He accused Russia of unnecessary threats, saying and that if Russia were to invade Ukraine" each meter of the land will be flooded with their blood." 

Ukrainian serviceman walks in a destroyed industrial compound, backdropped by bullet-riddled metal panels on a frontline position outside Avdiivka, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. Credit: AP

Ukraine has been urging Moscow to pull back its troops from the border it is was “serious” about de-escalating the tense situation. “If Russian officials are serious when they say they don’t want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces it amassed along Ukraine’s borders and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” Kyiv’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted yesterday. 

Kyiv’s demands were neglected by the Russian leader Putin, who in turn, has been asking for ‘security guarantees’ from the NATO alliance, who he says, brought their military forces “on our doorstep first.” “If they do not intend to do so, then they should explain why,” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on state television. 

Dutch parliament has cast votes in favour of a motion calling on the EU nation’s government to freeze the assets of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs “to stop an armed invasion in Ukraine.” Taking to his official Twitter handle, Head of Global Magnitsky Justice campaign, Bill Browder wrote: “We now have the US, UK, and Dutch parliament repeating the same message. It’s so obviously the right policy.” 

Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, Sjoerd Sjoerdsma slammed Russia’s troop build-up and act of aggression on Kyiv as he wrote on Twitter: “Corruption should be punishable under the EU Magnitsky Act so that we can go after the financial assets of Putin and the oligarchs that support him.” 

Magnitsky Acts are a set of sanctions named after a Russian activist, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison after he had exposed a corruption scheme involving the inner circle of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The Act allows the Western governments to freeze the funds of Russian officials, including those in the close circle of Putin or the leader himself on human rights grounds, in order to put pressure on the ruling elite. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as Canada and the US, already have Magnitsky sanctions in place against several Russian officials. 

Moscow's chair of world policy and international relations, Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) on Monday, Feb. 14, blamed the “external elements” for worsening the geopolitical turmoil between Moscow and Kyiv. Speaking to the Republic Media Network, Vladimir Federovich PRYAKHIN appeared to blame the United States, EU, and the NATO alliance, when asked by Republic’s host Niranjan Narayanaswamy about the satellite imagery that appeared to show an intense troop buildup on Ukraine’s frontier with Kyiv.

Republic interviewed the geopolitical expert on Russia’s regional affairs as Western and Ukrainian intelligence officials warned an ‘imminent’ invasion threat from Russia and officials have been leading diplomatic efforts to avert war. 

“They [US and NATO] would be very glad if tomorrow a war starts between Russia and Ukraine,” asserted Vladimir Federovich, adding that Russia does not want to invade the Ukrainians.

Federovich’s stance on the Russia Ukraine conflict resonated with the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s who had earlier, for the first time, broke monthlong public silence on the standoff, blaming NATO for the political tensions. Although, Putin still left the West wondering about his next move. Moscow is still open to diplomacy, Putin has iterated in a defiant tone against Washington. 

READ FULL STORY ON REPUBLIC'S INTERVIEW HERE

Accusing the Ukrainian Army of launching an armed offensive first, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Monday that it "is preparing in every way possible" to respond to any provocation by Ukrainian forces. DPR is a self-proclaimed quasi-state in the eastern Ukrainian oblast of Donetsk that hosts the Russian separatist forces in the region.

In his televised interview on Russian TV, DPR People’s Militia deputy head Eduard Basurin asserted "We are expecting provocations from Ukraine and we are preparing in every way possible.” 

DPR’s Basurin stated that the situation at the contact line on Russia Ukraine border “is not developing via a clam scenario” adding that there is a “hot phase of a conflict” brewing but hasn’t begun yet. 

Ukrainian soldiers guard an area near Odradivka, eastern Ukraine. [Credit: AP]

DPR’s militia head asserts that Ukraine is receiving substantial foreign aid from the West, and NATO, indicating that it will be shortly provoked to attack. "We seek to monitor the situation in full, in accordance with the abilities that we have," Basurin said, according to Russian state-affiliated media TASS. 

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine soldiers is extremely high at the contact line in Donbas, TASS reports. Donetsk People’s Republic, Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) have told reporters on condition of anonymity that there is intense military shelling, and troops have started mobilizing additional forces that appear in case of a war-like scenario.

Agencies reported earlier yesterday that US staff at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was asked by the Biden administration to start leaving the rebel-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday itself. OSCE's members were spotted with the logo on their uniform, as they loaded suitcases and were vacating the mission's headquarters building late yesterday evening.  The OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has been deployed in the eastern Ukraine region since the outbreak of war after Crimea's annexation and was never asked to pull out since. 

“UAF, led by US advisors, is developing a plan of offensive action in Donbass,” TASS reported Basurin as saying. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the war-hit Donbas region, eastern Ukraine. [Credit: AP]

Airlines worldwide are cancelling or diverting the flights to avoid the Ukraine air corridor over fears of Russian invasion and subsequently a war as Moscow has now amassed 130,000 troops on Kyiv’s frontier as well as has been conducting military drills in Belarus. 

Whilst NATO unleaded fresh shipments of the arms and weaponry from NATO members at the Ukraine airport, commercial planes resorted to avoiding Kyiv’s airspace. planes were banned from flying over Kyiv after the aviation insurers released a notice, stating that air carriers would no longer cover flights through Ukraine’s airspace, in case of a casualty from the war. The advisory effectively halted all international air travel to and from Ukraine. 

As many as 298 passengers, two-thirds of whom were Dutch, were killed six years ago after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile supplied to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine limited access to the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines plane as it was shot down six years ago during Russia Kyiv tensions. [Credit: AP]

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The Japanese government has asked its embassy staff to leave Ukraine immediately in an email noting that its function will be further limited from Monday. "Only a few" personnel will remain in Kyiv that are tasked with very critical bilateral roles, said Japanese government, according to Kyodo news. The decision came in the wake of mounting tensions between Kyiv and Moscow. Japan is ringing threat alarms for its nationals residing in Ukraine and wants the embassy staff and their families out. 

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Hawaii, after holding three-way foreign ministerial talks with the United States and South Korea, that Japanese nationals in Ukraine needed to evacuate "immediately in the safest manner."

Japan will allow less than 10 staff members including the Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda to remain in Ukraine, a Japanese government official said Monday in Tokyo. Further, he warned that the decision is in line with the intelligence reports that found the Russian invasion could begin in Kyiv as early as during the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics through next Sunday.

READ FULL STORY HERE

Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmitry Kuleba stated that Kyiv has asked for a meeting with Russia and all other Vienna Document signatories within 48 hours to address and discuss the current situation surrounding army deployments near the Ukrainian border. Taking to Twitter, the minister said that in accordance with the Vienna Document, Russia has failed to reply to their request to explain about the Putin'd intention for the troop concentration. 

Kubela said, “We request a meeting with Russia and all participating states within 48 hours to discuss its reinforcement & redeployment along our border & in temporarily occupied Crimea.”  In addition to this, Kuleba stated that Ukraine had asked for answers from Russia underneath the norms of the Vienna Document, a security pact agreed by signatories of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which comprises Russia. 

In the intense footage circulating on social media, the Ukrainians are seen marching through the center of Kyiv with their national flag, chanting “Glory to Ukraine,” and other pro-Ukrainian slogans. According to coverage on the ground, the citizens flashed placards with dire messages against Russia that read: “Ukrainians will resist” and “Invaders must die”.

“We will unite and fight for our independence,” one of the demonstrators was quoted saying by the ground reporters. ‘We are scared but we are ready’ meanwhile another citizen asserted, challenging Russia’s Putin. 

At least 250 Ukrainian civilians were earlier seen in a snow-covered mountain, training with the Ukrainian forces to defend their capital with cardboard guns. Kremlin has stationed over 120,000 troops on the border, and the Ukrainian government is mobilizing the country’s citizens to fight against the so-called ‘Russia’s blackmail scheme.’ 

[Credit: Twitter/@EffingGrim]

“Students, accountants, IT specialists, teachers, travel agents, retirees, military veterans: These urban volunteers are part of the national Territorial Defense Forces from around Ukraine,” a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter found. The Ukrainian defense ministry is now training civilians in the big cities “to protect their local neighbourhoods in case Putin orders Russian troops into Kyiv and other major cities.” NATO, US “won’t come to their rescue,” they told on-ground reporters. 

Ukrainian citizens have received military uniforms and have been training with cardboard guns, plastic paintball guns, and hunting rifles from home and outside their areas. Ukraine’s professional military says that it is teaching to advance, swivel, crawl, and rescue the fallen when Russian soldiers invade. Ukraine citizens have turned the Soviet-era, Young Pioneers children’s camp into their ‘house-to-house’ urban combat location inside the dilapidating buildings.  Professional soldiers in helmets and body armour shout commands, and Ukrainian civilians including women in a tracksuit practice with the ancient rifles or simulation of weaponry. 

“We will fight any invaders like the resistance that fought the Russians in Afghanistan,” Vasyl Nikolayevich, a 53-year-old full-time platoon commander in the Territorial Defense Forces, told Inquirer’s reporter. He had fought with the Soviet army against the Afghan resistance forces that drove the Soviets out. A digital marketer now in Army combat yelled, that Ukrainians will “protect their national identity.” 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be holding talks with world leaders this week in order to bring Russia “back from the brink” of war especially as the Ukraine crisis entered a “critical juncture”. According to Sky News, Number 10 had warned on Sunday evening that Britain’s intelligence “suggests Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine at any moment” and warned of “disastrous consequences”.

Downing Street also said that even as the Ukraine crisis reached a “critical juncture”, there is still a “window of opportunity for de-escalation and diplomacy”. Meanwhile, Johnson is expected to continue diplomatic efforts in another trip to Europe this week. According to the report, a Downing Street spokesperson averred that Johnson would “work tirelessly alongside our allies to get Russia to step back from the brink". 

Number 10 did not confirm which world leaders UK PM is expected to speak with but the media outlet stated, it is understood that Johnson is eager to engage with Nordic and Baltic countries. The Labour party in the UK had said at the weekend that Britain's lawmakers must learn lessons from the “chaos” of the Afghanistan evacuation and help citizens flee from Ukraine.

A plane of the Ukrainian airline SkyUp that flew from the island of Madeira to Kyiv was reported hovering in the sky, stranded, unable to land on Monday due to an immediate ban on the aircraft's entry into the airspace of Ukraine by its carrier. The advisory was issued by the firm that owns the aircraft at the time it was still in the sky, already flying towards Kyiv, according to Russian state newspaper Pravda. 

Unable to decide where to land the commercial plane with tail number UR-SQO had to remain in the sky. It was operating flight PQ0902 on the route Funchal (Madeira, Portugal) - Boryspil (Ukraine) when suddenly the plane was banned to head towards its destination. The airline then managed to arrange an immediate landing at the nearest airport to the territory of Ukraine in Chisinau. It also organized a transfer for 175 passengers to Kyiv. 

Embassy of Ukraine in Moldova wrote in a statement that at the request of the owner of the aircraft, it has will made arrangements to ensure that the passengers of SkyUp airlines were commuted to Ukraine safely. 

Russia’s defense ministry has defended the ‘Union Courage 2022’ with the Belarusian forces saying that the joint exercise is “planned to work out the tasks of suppressing and repelling external aggression during a defensive operation, as well as countering terrorism and protecting the interests of the Union State,” a Russian Defense Ministry statement read. While Moscow refuses to disclose the exact number of troops currently in Belarus for the drills, NATO has expressed concerns that Russia has amassed an additional 30,000 troops on the Belarusian side while Washington called the Belarusian military drills a specter of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a hanging threat to Europe. 

White House described the Russian military drills in Belarus as “concerning.” Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki told a briefing that it is “certainly more of an escalatory and not a de-escalatory action, as it relates to those troops and the military exercises.” 

An updated map on Russian troop positions near Ukraine. [Credit: VAJRA: The Strategic Forum/Twitter]

United States has completely rejected the Russian defense ministry’s claims that its navy ‘chased’ a US submarine after it violated Russian territorial waters near the disputed Kuril islands.  Washington denied carrying out any military operations in Russian territorial waters in the pacific near the Far East islands where Russia is holding the military drills. Russia accused Washington of “breaking international law” citing national security threat for Moscow. 

The incident comes at the time of high tensions between Moscow and the US over Russian troop concentration near Ukraine. Russia says that the US submarine refused to obey orders of its Pacific Fleet to surface immediately. 

[Credit: AP]

The US Navy ignored Russian military warnings that asked the submarine to leave the country's waters, the Russian defense ministry informed in a statement. It added that a Russian Navy frigate “chased off the US sub.” Later US military attaché in Moscow was summoned by the Russian government over the alleged ‘violation.’ "In connection with the violation by the US Navy submarine of the state border of the Russian Federation, the defense attaché at the US embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian defense ministry," the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

The four southernmost Kuril Islands that lie north of Japan's Hokkaido island are disputed territories between Russia and Japan.

"There is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their territorial waters," Captain Kyle Raines, a US military spokesman, said in a statement.

"I will not comment on the precise location of our submarines but we do fly, sail, and operate safely in international waters," the statement further read. 

The US and Belarusian defense chiefs held a rare telephonic dialogue where they each discussed the "miscalculation" during Russia-Belarus joint military drills, the Pentagon said in a statement. The talks came as tensions are at all-time high over the Kremlin's amassing of troops on the frontier with Ukraine and now the Belarusian border. As Russian troops held live-fire drills at the Belarusian border, NATO activated warnings and stepped up the urgency for the West to intervene. 

Russia's deployment of missiles, heavy armor, and machine-gun-toting on the frontier with Kyiv is a "dangerous moment" for European security, said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said as he warned of a full-fledged invasion. US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley in talks with General Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Viktor Gulevich of Belarus discussed the “issues of concern" related to regional security. 

"The phone call facilitated communication between both leaders to reduce chances of miscalculation and gain perspectives on current European security," the Pentagon said in the statement. 

Ukraine has advised all the commercial airlines to avoid flying over the Black Sea from Monday to Saturday due to Russian naval exercises that will go on for 10-days with Belarusian forces. Russia has seized at least six of the strategic Black Sea ports, a move widely criticized by Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has reportedly stated that the Sea of Azov was completely blocked by the Russian military, and the Black Sea was fully cut off by Russian forces.

France reacted to the Russia-Belarus war drills, which has witnessed the largest troops deployment since the Cold War as a “violent gesture". "Those in Ukraine should depart now via commercial or private means,” meanwhile the US said in an immediate advisory. 

Russia has activated ‘coastal warnings’  and ‘aviation danger alert’ NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) near Norway’s southeastern Barents Sea as sounds of missile and gunfire resonated. Reports suggest that Russia has blocked an area from the Kolguyev Island in the east to several tens of nautical miles west of the maritime delimitation line with Norway, an approximate distance of about 650 kilometers. In the entire coastline of the Barents- and White Seas long-range missiles are launched. 

In this photo taken from video and released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service a pair of Tu-22M3 bombers of the Russian air force taxi before takeoff at an air base in Russia. [Credit: AP]

US embassy in Ukraine tweeted that "under the pretext of military exercises, Russia restricts Ukraine's maritime sovereignty, limits freedom of navigation in the Black Sea/Sea of Azov, & impedes maritime traffic essential to Ukraine's economy".

A view of a Tu-22M3 bomber of the Russian air force seen from the cockpit of another such plane during a training flight. Two Tu-22M3 long-range bombers of the Russian air force. [Credit: AP]

More than 30 warships entered near the Crimea peninsula as part of wider military drills, the RIA news agency reported. 

Effective Monday, airlines “are advised not to fly... over this area, and to plan optimal routes in advance, taking into account the current situation,” Ukraine’s state air traffic service said.

Only the airspace over the territory of Ukraine is open for the aircraft and planes to transit. While Kyiv’s officials said that they see “no point” in closing down their air corridors, Dutch airline KLM - part of Air France - stopped flying to Ukraine and Germany’s Lufthansa followed the lead. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the United States of waging a “propaganda campaign” against Russia as the US President Joe Biden held talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and told him that the US will respond ‘decisively’ to any threats of invasion. Russia is accusing the US of stoking “panic” after the US national security adviser warned that the Russian invasion was ‘imminent.’ 

Amid warnings that Russia could invade Ukraine within days, the global agenda has been dominated by the crisis prevailing in eastern Europe. But, in the middle of it all, Moscow, Kyiv, the US and its allies have repeatedly mentioned the Minsk agreements, which are named over the capital of Belarus where they were signed back in 2014 and 2015. As the US has stated that Russia has positioned more than 130,000, of its forces outside Ukraine, Minsk agreements are deemed as an attempt to secure a ceasefire between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists in the east of Ukraine.

Even French President Emmanuel Macron has indicated the Minsk agreement between Kyiv and Moscow as the blueprint that would calm the Ukraine crisis. After Macron spoke with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelinsky respectively, the French President had said that the Minsk II agreement is the “only path on which peace can be built”. But both Russian and Ukrainian sides have disagreed over their interpretations of the Minsk agreements. 

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be holding talks with world leaders this week in order to bring Russia “back from the brink” of war especially as the Ukraine crisis entered a “critical juncture”. According to Sky News, Number 10 had warned on Sunday evening that Britain’s intelligence “suggests Russia could be a planning an invasion of Ukraine at any moment” and warned of “disastrous consequences”.

Furthermore, Downing Street also said that even as the Ukraine crisis reached a “critical juncture”, there is still a “window of opportunity for de-escalation and diplomacy”. Meanwhile, Johnson is expected to continue diplomatic efforts in another trip to Europe this week. According to the report, a Downing Street spokesperson averred that Johnson would “work tirelessly alongside our allies to get Russia to step back from the brink".
 

Ukraine Infrastructure Ministry on Sunday announced a fund of $592 million to help airports in the ex-Soviet nation functional amid escalating tensions along the Russia-Ukraine borders. The allotment comes after several flights through Ukraine's airspace were diverted with the risk of more being rerouted. As quoted by the Guardian, Ukraine PM Denys Shmygal on Sunday said the fund is "to ensure flight safety in Ukraine for insurance and leasing companies."

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The United States has said Russia has positioned more than 130,000, of its forces, which is up from 100,000 that Washington had previously stated. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged for calm amid intensified warnings of a possible Russian invasion within days. 

The United States is not considering “preemptive” sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, said US Department of Defence or Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby. In an appearance on Fox News, Kirby said, “If it's a deterrent and you use it before the aggression is made or the transgression is made, then you lose your deterrent effect”. Pentagon spokesperson’s remarks came as the US has been mulling imposing a “preemptive strike” of sanctions on Russia over the tensions near Ukraine irrespective of Moscow going ahead with Kyiv’s invasion. 

"If you punish someone for something they haven't done yet then they might as well just go ahead and do it. So we believe that there is a deterrent effect by keeping them in reserve, and we have been very clear with the international community and with Mr. Putin about the severity of the economic consequences that he could face," the spokesman added, in a Fox News interview.
 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday told his American counterpart, Joe Biden, that latter’s visit to Kyiv is “crucial for stabilizing the situation”, said a statement by Zelensky’s office. Ukrainian and US Presidents spoke on the phone on 13 February and in the statement released by Zelensky’s office, the Ukrainian leader thanked Biden for his support and invited him to visit Kyiv. 

Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement, Zelensky told Biden, “I am convinced that your arrival in Kyiv in the coming days, which are crucial for stabilizing the situation, will be a powerful signal and contribute to de-escalation”.
 

United States President Joe Biden on Sunday spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and affirmed Washington’s commitment to Kyiv’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. According to an official release by the White House, Biden made it clear that the US would “respond swiftly and decisively” along with its allies and partners to any military aggression by Russia. Biden and Zelenssky agreed on continuing diplomatic efforts and “deterrence” in response to Russia amassing its troops on borders near Ukraine. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for a meeting with Russia and all participating states within 48 hours to discuss "reinforcement and redeployment along our border & in temporarily occupied Crimea." He asserted that Russia has failed to respond to their request under the Vienna document. Furthermore, he stated that if Russia was willing to hold talks about the indivisibility of security in the OSCE space, it must fulfil its commitment to military transparency to reduce tensions. 

The United States has estimated that more than 130,000 Russian troops were now deployed near Ukraine’s borders, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. Previously, the US had mentioned that more than 100,000 Russian forces were present on the border near the Ukraine border. The tensions between Ukraine and Russia have drastically escalated over military build-up near Kyiv's international border.
 

The Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand on Twitter announced that they have decided to temporarily relocate members of its Joint Task Force – Ukraine (JTF-U) to elsewhere in Europe "due to the rapidly evolving and complex operational environment linked to Russia’s unwarranted aggression." Anita Anand Anand further added, "This temporary repositioning will ensure the safety of Canadian personnel. We remain committed to supporting the people of Ukraine, including through Canada’s mission to increase the capacity and capability of the Security Forces of Ukraine."

US President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a call. Biden reaffirmed the commitment of the US to Ukraine's "sovereignty and territorial integrity." according to the White House readout of the call. Biden assured the Ukrainian President that the "United States would respond swiftly and decisively" along with its allies and partners to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine. According to the White House statement, both sides agreed on the importance to pursue "diplomacy and deterrence" in response to Russia’s military build-up near the Ukraine border. 

Ukraine Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Sunday, February 13, informed that they have received 180 tons of ammunition from the United States for Ukrainian Armed forces. Reznikov shared details regarding defence aid from the United States on Twitter. "Our friends are not sleeping!," he added. 

Poland has agreed to help US citizens leave Ukraine by simplifying the entry procedures, the US Embassy in Ukraine informs.

"Poland has indicated to the U.S. government that U.S. citizens may now enter Poland through the land border with Ukraine. No advanced approval is required. We encourage those traveling into Poland by land from Ukraine to cross at the Korczowa-Krakovets or Medyka-Shehyni border crossings," the US embassy said in a Saturday statement.
 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is flying to Russia and Ukraine this week in an effort to help defuse escalating tensions as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent and Germany has called on its citizens to leave Ukraine as quickly as possible.

Ahead of his first visits as chancellor to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Scholz has renewed his warning to Russia, as well as his advocacy of continuing diplomacy in multiple formats.
 

A senior US official on Saturday said that there was "no fundamental change" after the UU President Joe Biden's hour-long call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, noting that Moscow may decide to proceed with military action and invasion in Ukraine remains a "distinct possibility.

"US President Joe Biden made clear his stance over the ongoing tension between Ukraine and Russia and said that if Moscow undertook a further invasion of Kiev, Washington along with its allies will respond "decisively" and impose swift and severe costs on the country, according to a White House statement.
 

Some airlines have cancelled or diverted flights to Ukraine amid heightened fears that an invasion by Russia is imminent despite intensive weekend talks between the Kremlin and the West.

In an hourlong Saturday call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Joe Biden said invading Ukraine would cause widespread human suffering and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but equally prepared for other scenarios, the White House said. It offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.

The two presidents spoke a day after Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, warned that US intelligence shows a Russian invasion could begin within days.

Russia denies it intends to invade but has massed well over 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and has sent troops to exercises in neighbouring Belarus. US officials say Russia's buildup of firepower has reached the point where it could invade on short notice.

Dutch airline KLM has cancelled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company said Saturday.

Dutch sensitivity to potential danger in Ukrainian airspace is high in the wake of the 2014 shooting down of a Malaysian airliner over an area of eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed rebels. All 298 people aboard died, including 198 Dutch citizens.

The Ukrainian charter airline SkyUp said Sunday that its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was diverted to the Moldovan capital Chisinau after the plane's Irish lessor said it was banning flights in Ukrainian airspace.

Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov told The Associated Press that Ukraine has not closed its airspace. A statement from the Infrastructure Ministry said: Some carriers are experiencing difficulties associated with fluctuations in the insurance markets.

The Putin-Biden call, after a call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, came at a critical moment for what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. US officials believe they have mere days to prevent an invasion and enormous bloodshed in Ukraine.

While the US and its NATO allies have no plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, an invasion and resulting punishing sanctions could reverberate far beyond the former Soviet republic, affecting energy supplies, global markets and the power balance in Europe.

President Biden was clear with President Putin that while the United States remains prepared to engage in diplomacy, in full coordination with our Allies and partners, we are equally prepared for other scenarios, the White House statement said.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin's top foreign policy aide, said that while tensions have been escalating for months, in recent days the situation has simply been brought to the point of absurdity.

He said Biden mentioned the possible sanctions that could be imposed on Russia, but this issue was not the focus during a fairly long conversation with the Russian leader.

In a sign that American officials are getting ready for a worst-case scenario, the United States announced plans to evacuate most of its staff from the embassy in the Ukrainian capital and urged all American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately. Britain joined other European nations in telling its citizens to leave Ukraine.

Canada has shuttered its embassy in Kyiv and relocated its diplomatic staff to a temporary office in Lviv, located in the western part of the country, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Saturday. Lviv is home to a Ukrainian military base that has served as the main hub for Canada's 200-soldier training mission in the former Soviet country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has downplayed concerns about an invasion, urging the country to remain calm.

I believe that today in the information space there is a lot of information, he said Saturday.

The timing of any possible Russian military action remains a key question.

The US picked up intelligence that Russia is looking at Wednesday as a target date, according to a US official familiar with the findings. The official, who was not authorised to speak publicly and did so only on condition of anonymity, would not say how definitive the intelligence was.

Further US-Russia tensions arose on Saturday when the Defence Ministry summoned the US Embassy's military attache after it said the navy detected an American submarine in Russian waters near the Kuril Islands in the Pacific. The submarine declined orders to leave, but departed after the navy used unspecified appropriate means, the ministry said.

Adding to the sense of crisis, the Pentagon ordered an additional 3,000 US troops to Poland to reassure allies.

In addition to the more than 100,000 ground troops that US officials say Russia has assembled along Ukraine's eastern and southern borders, the Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain a war.

This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land marines on the coast.

Biden has bolstered the U.S. military presence in Europe as reassurance to allies on NATO's eastern flank. The 3,000 additional soldiers ordered to Poland come on top of 1,700 who are on their way there. The US Army also is shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania, which like Poland shares a border with Ukraine.

Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons near its border and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe  demands flatly rejected by the West.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.

A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled.

(ANI)