Senior military official says decision would be taken at the ‘highest level’ as tensions escalate
German chancellor heads to Kyiv amid fears invasion is imminentUkraine quashes suggestion it could drop Nato plans to avoid warEurope closer to war than at any time in 70 years, UK minister fearsUK PM urges Putin to step back from ‘edge of precipice’ – live
Latest words from Scholz as he prepares to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy:
We urgently expect signs of de-escalation from Moscow. Further military aggression would have very serious consequences for Russia. I absolutely agree with our allies on that. We are witnessing a very, very serious threat to peace in Europe.
“Ukraine is convening a meeting with Russia and all member states in the next 48 hours to discuss the reinforcement and movement of Russian forces along our border,” he wrote on Facebook.
I would like to emphasise once again that we are talking about the movement of Russian troops on Russian territory,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, once again accusing Ukraine of ramping up tensions.
“Large-scale movements of Ukraine’s armed forces are also carried out in the border zone on Ukrainian territory, moreover, in the area that borders on the territory of the self-proclaimed republics, which leads to escalation of the situation”