The Kremlin has said it is too early to organise a summit between Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, after Paris announced the possibility of a meeting to calm tensions over Ukraine.
“It’s premature to talk about any specific plans for organising any kind of summits,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that no “concrete plans” had been put in place for a meeting.
On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron announced he had brokered a deal for Mr Biden and Mr Putin to participate in a summit over Ukraine if the feared Russian invasion does not take place.
The summit would take place after a scheduled meeting between US secretary of state Antony Blinken and his Russian opposite number, Sergei Lavrov, which is also conditional on Moscow not pressing ahead with military action.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, also announced the move in a statement on Sunday night amid mounting fears in the US that an invasion is imminent.
However, several administration officials on Sunday played down the reports of a possible summit, saying that Mr. Putin has a history of agreeing to talks even as he prepares for — and ultimately engages in — armed conflict.
Follow the latest updates below.
10:09 AM
Russian border post ‘destroyed by shell’, claim FSB
Russia’s intelligence agency FSB has claimed a projectile launched from the Ukraine-controlled part of the border with the Donbas hit a Russian border guards post, reports our Moscow correspondent Nataliya Vasilyeva.
The FSB said in a statement on Monday an unidentified shell fired from Ukraine “destroyed” the Russian border post situated in Russia about 150 metres away from the border. No casualties were reported.
The FSB said the border post was in Rostov Oblast, but did not name the precise location.
Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east has intensified since Thursday.
09:57 AM
Vladimir Putin calls ‘extraordinary’ meeting of Russia’s security council
Vladimir Putin will convene an extraordinary meeting of the Russian Security Council on Monday, his spokesman has said.
“This will be a big Security Council. There will be a speech by the head of state as well as other speeches,” Mr Peskov said.
The security council acts as a platform for determining and coordinating national security policy.
It is composed of Russia′s leading state officials and heads of defence and security agencies and chaired by the nation’s president.
09:46 AM
7,000 extra troops on border, minister says
There are 7,000 more Russian troops on the Ukrainian border than there were a few days ago, a business minister has said.
Paul Scully told Sky News the number had been bolstered “despite the Russians trying to signal the fact they were pulling away from the border”.
He said: “So there is a very, very credible threat and that’s why we’ve got to continue to be vigilant, we’ve got to continue to work with Ukraine and Poland, as Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, was doing just this week.”
He warned “the loss of life will be horrendous” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not engage in diplomacy.
09:33 AM
‘Tens of thousands’ of casualties expected ‘in opening days’ of Russian attack
Tens of thousands of casualties are expected “in the opening days” of conflict if Russia decides to attack Ukraine, a senior US intelligence official told the New York Times.
Previous predictions that Vladimir Putin would launch an assault on Ukraine in the form of a “minor incursion” are now considered less likely than a single nationwide attack by some US intelligence officials.
Russia’s plans for invasion – some of which have been seen by officials at the Pentagon – include “overwhelmingly intense fire”, according to the New York Times. There are fears that Ukraine could see “intense” rocket attacks and fighting on the streets of Kyiv.
Russian troops – which are to remain in Belarus after the completion of joint military exercises this weekend – are located just 100 miles away from Kyiv on Belarus’ border with the country, providing further evidence that Kyiv is the primary target.
Fears of an intense bombardment of Ukraine are heightened by Russia’s approach to military action in Syria, where 39,000 Russian airstrikes have taken place since 2015, compared to the America’s 19,904, with as many as 23,000 dead, according to Airwars. Russian airstrike targets included civilian sites such as hospitals.
09:18 AM
US warns Russia has ‘hit list’ for after invasion
America has warned the United Nations it has information that Russia has lists of Ukrainians “to be killed or sent to camps” in the event of an invasion, according to a letter sent to the UN rights chief and obtained by several international media outlets.
The letter, which came as Washington warned of an imminent invasion by Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border, says the United States is “deeply concerned” and warns of a potential “human rights catastrophe.”
The United States has “credible information that indicates Russian forces are creating lists of identified Ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation,” the letter says.
Russia dismissed the letter, calling the existence of any such list of names “an absolute lie”.
09:05 AM
Slap sanctions on Russia now, Ukraine tells the EU
The European Union must start imposing some sanctions on Russia now to show it is serious about wanting to prevent a war, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said as he arrived in Brussels to meet the bloc’s foreign ministers.
Western countries fear a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine in recent weeks is a prelude to an invasion and say this would trigger “massive” sanctions against Moscow. Russia denies any plans to invade but wants sweeping security guarantees.
“We expect decisions,” Mr Kuleba said. “There are plenty of decisions the European Union can make now to send clear messages to Russia that its escalation will not be tolerated and Ukraine will not be left on its own.”
“We believe that there are good and legitimate reasons to impose at least some of the sanctions now to demonstrate that the European Union is not only talking the talk about sanctions, but is also walking the walk.”
But the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell appeared to reject the idea of immediate sanctions, saying he still saw room for diplomacy.
Speaking shortly before Mr Kuleba, Mr Borrell told reporters he would convene an extraordinary EU meeting to agree sanctions “when the moment comes”.
08:49 AM
Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron held two phone calls on Sunday
Presidents Macron and Putin held two separate phone calls on Sunday to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, the Kremlin press secretary confirmed.
Dmitry Peskov said today that the second phone call had been held overnight at the instigation of Mr Macron, and that the leaders had continued their conversations about “the necessity for continuing dialogue” through foreign ministries and political advisors within the Normandy format.
France’s Europe Minister Clement Baune said that the French president had revived “diplomatic hope” after proposing a US-Russia summit on the Ukraine crisis, to which both Mr Biden and Mr Putin have provisionally agreed.
He told LCI TV that “if there is still a chance to avoid a confrontation and build a political and diplomatic solution, then we need to take it.”
08:39 AM
Russian troop movement captured on satallite
08:26 AM
Russian troops to stay in Belarus unless there’s ‘objective necessity to leave’
Russian troops will remain in Belarus following the end of planned military exercises until there is an “objective necessity” for them to leave, the Belarussian Ministry of Defence has said.
“Russian armed forces units will return to their permanent bases only when there is an objective necessity and when we have determined that ourselves” the Belarussian military said in a statement today, according to reports by Russian news organisation RBK.
The Ministry also maintained that they had a right to demand the withdrawal of US and Nato troops from nearby borders.
08:09 AM
Four Russian false flags that are comically easy to debunk
Analysts are pouring over video footage of purported standoffs and attacks as Europe teeters on the edge of war. Verity Bowman takes a look at how to spot disinformation.
For weeks Britain and the United States have been warning of Russian false flag attacks to create a justification for military action.
But in the age of social media, the Kremlin’s propaganda battle and disinformation campaigns by pro-Russian forces are easier to spot than ever before.
Analysts are pouring over video footage of purported standoffs and attacks as Europe teeters on the edge of war – all of them devised to create confusion and doubt and ultimately paint Ukraine as the aggressor.
Take a read of Verity’s analysis here.
07:58 AM
Evacuees arrive in Russia, in pictures
07:45 AM
EU supports further talks between US and Russia, Josep Borrell says
The European Union supports the latest attempt to arrange further talks between Washington and Moscow to find a diplomatic solution amid a Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s borders, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
“Summit meetings, at the level of leaders, at the level of ministers, whatever format, whatever way of talking and sitting at the table and trying to avoid a war, is badly needed,” Mr Borrell told reporters in Brussels ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
“We will support anything that can make diplomatic conversations the best way, the only way to look for a solution to the crisis,” he added, after France announced U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in principle to a summit over Ukraine.
His statement comes as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday accused Moscow of playing an “irresponsible” game with the civilian population of eastern Ukraine, putting their lives at risk.
“I urgently call on the Russian government, on the Russian president: Don’t play with human lives,” she told reporters on arrival for a meeting with her EU counterparts in Brussels.
“What we have seen over the last 72 hours in terms of attacks, violent disputes is really concerning,” she said. “The responsibility lies with the Russian government which is why I call urgently on the Russian government: Come back to the negotiating table. It is in your hands.”
07:30 AM
Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin agree ‘in principle’ to diplomatic summit
Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle to a summit over Ukraine if the feared Russian invasion does not take place.
The summit would take place after a scheduled meeting between US secretary of state Antony Blinken and his Russian opposite number, Sergei Lavrov, which is also conditional on Moscow not pressing ahead with military action.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, announced the move in a statement on Sunday night amid mounting fears in the US that an invasion is imminent.
However, several administration officials on Sunday played down the reports of a possible summit, saying that Mr. Putin has a history of agreeing to talks even as he prepares for — and ultimately engages in — armed conflict.
It followed a day of shuttle diplomacy by French president Emanuel Macron, who spoke to both Mr Biden and Mr Putin.
