A meeting between Putin and Biden, spearheaded by French President Macron, is cautiously seen by Kyiv as a way to avert a catastrophic war

Speaking with Macron, Putin blames escalation on 'provocations by Ukrainian security forces'; Zelensky calls for immediate ceasefire; Blinken warns Kyiv on 'brink of invasion'

Washington says 7,000 more soldiers sent with 150,000-plus now surrounding country; Blinken: Putin 'can pull the trigger' any day; Russia-chaired Security Council to meet

US says Putin can 'pull the trigger' at any time; NATO chief says more Russian troops are heading to the border; Ukraine holds military drills

Moscow calls reports of imminent invasion failed 'Western war propaganda,' says it wants to talk security arrangements with NATO, but fears of war remain high

Scholz's visit comes amid growing fears of Russian invasion, as US and NATO warn Putin of 'heavy price'

US warns that, with over 130,000 Russian troops deployed on former Soviet republic's border, backed by various missiles and tanks, major attack could be launched at any moment

In Romania, Jens Stoltenberg urges Moscow 'to de-escalate and to engage in good faith' as military alliance bolsters presence in Eastern Europe

UK's Johnson calls crisis most dangerous moment for continent in decades, dispatches soldiers to Poland as icy talks with Moscow flounder; Biden urges Americans to leave Ukraine

NATO leaders condemn exercises, Kyiv denounces maneuvers as 'psychological pressure'; Kremlin insists Russian troops in Belarus will go home after the drill