Kyiv has requested an urgent meeting with Russia to discuss Moscow’s massing of troops and military equipment near Ukraine and inside annexed Crimea.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said late on Sunday that Moscow had not responded after Kyiv on Friday made a request via the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), demanding Russia explain its activities. Ukraine is now seeking a meeting with Russia within 48 hours, he said.
Kuleba’s remarks came before renewed diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing a feared Russian invasion, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arriving in the Ukrainian capital on Monday for talks over the crisis with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Here are the latest updates:
Ukraine hails ‘positive’ defense talks with Belarus
Ukraine’s defense minister has hailed what he called a “positive” round of talks with his Belarusian counterpart, aimed at deflating tensions stoked by Russian-Belarus military drills.
“We discussed our agenda and determined our future steps. I view this as a positive signal and the first step toward fruitful cooperation,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in a statement.
Eastern Europe braces for potential refugees
Countries in Eastern Europe are making preparations for potentially hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Ukraine if the crisis with Russia escalates, with some Polish towns already listing places available and Romania considering refugee camps.
Poland said it was preparing for a worst-case scenario. Romania, which also shares a long border with Ukraine, has meanwhile finalized an action plan, Interior Minister Lucian Bode told private television station B1. Hungary is also making preparations.
Slovakia’s defense minister has said that there may be tens of thousands of refugees even under a limited conflict.
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have also said they were readying to accept refugees.
Ukraine’s Kuleba and US Blinken discuss OSCE mission to Ukraine
Ukraine’s Kuleba says he has spoken to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the functioning of an international observer mission that monitors the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has for years monitored fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatist forces but recently some of its staff have left the area amid growing concerns over the tensions.
“We also discussed the functioning of SMM OSCE. Ukraine is interested in it being fully operational,” Kuleba said in a tweet after his phone call with Blinken.
Another call with @SecBlinken. We keep actively coordinating efforts to protect Ukraine. Grateful to the U.S. for the decision to provide Ukraine with macro-financial assistance. We also discussed the functioning of SMM OSCE. Ukraine is interested in it being fully operational.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 14, 2022
Greece says two expatriates killed in eastern Ukraine
Greece’s foreign ministry says two Greek expatriates were killed and another two seriously injured in an incident involving Ukrainian soldiers in the country’s conflict-hit east.
The ministry said in a statement that three Ukrainian soldiers were “responsible” for the deaths and injuries to the four Greeks in the village of Hranitne, which sits close to the “line of contact” with the pro-Russian separatist forces who seized a swathe of territory in the Donbas in early 2014 following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea.
It said the violence erupted after the Greeks and Ukrainian soldiers got into an argument “for an insignificant reason”. It did not say what the Greeks were doing in the area but a Greek foreign ministry official was quoted by Reuters as saying the incident had nothing to do with the ongoing conflict in the region.
Russia says some military drills have ended, others close to completion
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has told President Vladimir Putin that some of the country’s military drills had already ended and others were coming to a close.
Russia’s joint exercises with ally Belarus and other drills near Ukraine have fanned fears Russia may be poised to invade its neighbor.
Russia’s Lavrov proposes continued diplomacy
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has suggested to Putin that Moscow should continue along the diplomatic path in its efforts to extract security guarantees from the West.
Lavrov told the Russian president during a televised meeting between the pair that the United States had put forward concrete proposals on reducing military risks, but said responses from the European Union and NATO military alliance had not been satisfactory.
Moscow wants NATO to guarantee that Ukraine will never be permitted to become a member and for the military alliance to cease all military activity in Eastern Europe. Those demands have been flatly rejected by both the alliance and the US.
Defense ministers of Belarus, Ukraine hold talks by phone
Belarus’ defense minister has held a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart aimed at restoring an atmosphere of dialogue between the two countries and ensuring security in the region, according to the country’s defense ministry.
The ministry said the officials had discussed the ongoing drills being staged by Belarus and Russia, as well as exercises being conducted by Ukraine, and expressed confidence that neither side’s activities posed a security threat to the other.
Kyiv confirmed the call had taken place, describing it as a positive signal and the first step towards cooperation.
‘Grave possibility of an invasion this week’: UK PM’s spokesman
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman says the United Kingdom has seen no sign that Russia will de-escalate the crisis and warns there is a “grave possibility” that Moscow could launch an invasion this week.
“We have seen no signs so far that Russia will back down. There are more than 130,000 Russian troops on the border of Ukraine, and we are gravely concerned,” the spokesman said.
“There is a grave possibility of an invasion this week.”
Russian lawmakers propose a draft resolution on recognition of breakaway republics
Lawmakers from Russia’s ruling United Russia party have proposed a draft resolution to seek the foreign ministry’s view on whether to call for the recognition of two breakaway Ukrainian regions as independent, the Russian parliament’s database shows.
The State Duma, Russia’s lower house, is due to discuss the proposal later. The final resolution would then be sent to Putin.
Formal recognition of the east Ukrainian regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014 – the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) – would further inflame tensions between Moscow and Kyiv.
German troops arrive in Lithuania
A German military aircraft carrying troop reinforcements have landed in Lithuania, the first of several planned NATO deployments aimed at reinforcing the alliance’s eastern flank.
The A400M airplane carried around 70 soldiers of what is expected to grow to a 360-strong German deployment, which comes on top of existing NATO forces in the region, a spokesperson for the alliance’s enhanced forward presence battlegroup said.
The new deployments include reconnaissance and artillery troops and medics from units throughout Germany, as well as around 100 howitzer and other vehicles, with arrivals expected to continue throughout this week.
“It’s a strong signal that Germany is willing and capable of reinforcing the battlegroup immediately as needed,” Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Andrae, the German commander of the NATO troops in Lithuania, told reporters. He added the soldiers “will stay as long as they are needed”.
Infographic: Why airplanes avoid eastern Ukraine
Airlines have stayed clear of eastern Ukraine since 2014 after MH17 was shot down. And now, as tensions rise with Russia, carriers are limiting their time spent in all Ukrainian airspace, or avoiding it altogether.
Al Jazeera has put together a series of infographics that explain the implications of the standoff between Kyiv and Moscow for aviation.
Timeline: Ukraine’s turbulent history
Ukraine has faced significant challenges since winning independence in 1991.
Russia will not take part in OSCE meeting: Report
Russia will not take part in an OSCE meeting scheduled for later today, the country’s RIA Novosti news agency cites diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov as saying.
The meeting was requested by the Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – and will concern “unusual military activity” in Belarus, where Moscow and Minsk are staging war games.
G7 finance ministers issue warning to Moscow
The finance ministers of the G7 group of large Western economies have warned Russia it will face “massive” economic consequences should it invade Ukraine and promised to support the latter’s economy in the event of an attack.
“The ongoing Russian military build-up at Ukraine’s borders is a cause for grave concern. We, the G7 Finance Ministers, underline our readiness to act swiftly and decisively to support the Ukrainian economy,” they wrote in a joint statement.
“Any further military aggression by Russia against Ukraine will be met with a swift, coordinated and forceful response,” the ministers added, warning Moscow of “economic and financial sanctions which will have massive and immediate consequences on the Russian economy”.
The G7 is comprised of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.
Russia to miss Munich Security Conference, event chair says
The Russian government has decided to not send a representative to this year’s Munich Security Conference, according to the chair of the event, Wolfgang Ischinger.
The conference, known as “Davos for defense”, begins on Friday and will bring together the world’s defense and security elite.
Timeline: How did the recent Ukraine-Russia crisis start?
Tensions over the Ukraine-Russia crisis have been simmering for months, with diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation showing little sign of progress.
Service members of the Ukrainian armed forces are seen atop tanks during military drills at a training ground in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine [Press service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff/Handout via Reuters]
OSCE chairman expected in Moscow
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Moscow, says there has been no response from any Russian officials to Ukraine’s request for an urgent meeting.
“But we do expect the Polish foreign minister [Zbigniew Rau] to arrive in the Russian capital later on Monday,” she said. “He is the chairman of the OSCE … and so his trip will really be an important one and will possibly address the concerns that Ukraine has raised.”
Jabbari added that Russia had always said “moving their own troops within their own territories is very much … just for their own security and that they do not have to explain that to anybody”.
Greece advises its citizens in Ukraine to depart ‘immediately’
Greece’s foreign ministry has issued an advisory urging Greek nationals in Ukraine to leave the country “immediately”.
Athens’s move follows similar action by other Western states and came after the US warned that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time.
Ukraine taking ‘the next step’ with Moscow meeting request, Kuleba says
Kuleba has said Moscow failed to respond after Kyiv on Friday invoked a part of the Vienna Document, a set of security agreements, to demand Russia explain its military activities.
“Consequently, we take the next step. 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,” he tweeted on Sunday. There was no immediate response from Moscow.
The 1990 Vienna Document requires the 57 members of the OSCE to share information about their military forces and notify each other about major activities.
If Russia is serious when it talks about the indivisibility of security in the OSCE space, it must fulfill its commitment to military transparency in order to de-escalate tensions and enhance security for all 2/2
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 13, 2022
Scholz to discuss ‘offering more financial aid to Ukraine’ with Zelenskyy
Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, reporting from Kyiv, says Scholz “believes that diplomacy is still possible to avert a war on European soil”.
“He will be meeting with Zelenskyy … and the two will talk about the situation, which is very tense indeed, and discuss the possibility of Germany offering more financial aid to Ukraine,” she said.
“But there has been some frustration amongst some Ukrainian officials with Germany over Berlin’s refusal to offer any weapons to Ukraine so that is also likely to come up in today’s discussions.”
The two leaders are expected to hold a joint news conference at 12:00 GMT, following their talks.
Ukraine’s UK ambassador rows back NATO remarks
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK has clarified earlier remarks about possibly dropping a bid for NATO membership, saying that the former Soviet republic would not be reconsidering its attempt to join the military alliance.
“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 conversations with the Russians,” Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko told the BBC in English. “It has nothing to do with NATO which is enshrined in the constitution.”
Prystaiko had earlier told the BBC that Kyiv was willing to be “flexible” over its goal to join the transatlantic military alliance, a move Putin has said would be a trigger for war.
Where are Russian troops stationed?
Russia has massed an estimated 100,000 soldiers and advanced weapons around Ukraine.
Al Jazeera has put together the following infographic demonstrating where Moscow has positioned its forces near the two countries’ shared border and in neighboring Belarus, where Russia is staging joint military exercises with its ally.
The Chinese embassy in Ukraine operating normally, the foreign ministry says
China’s embassy in Ukraine is operating as normal, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin has said.
Wang told a daily news briefing that the embassy will continue to provide consular protection for its citizens and has issued a notice asking Chinese nationals to closely monitor the situation on the ground.
Several Western countries have withdrawn staff from their embassies in Kyiv in recent days, with many of them also urging their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately.
Russia says ties with US are ‘on the floor’
Relations between Moscow and Washington are “lying on the floor”, the Kremlin says.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA there were certain channels for dialogue, one positive being that Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden have been in contact – the two spoke by phone on Saturday – but that ties in other areas were strained.
“The heads of state are in dialogue, there is dialogue on other fronts,” Peskov said. “But on the rest, unfortunately, in bilateral relations one can only talk about negatives. We are at a very, very low point.”
Ukraine could drop NATO bid to avoid war: Ambassador
Ukraine could drop its bid to join NATO to avoid war with Russia, the country’s ambassador to the UK has said, in what would amount to a major concession to Moscow in response to Russia’s military build-up.
Prystaiko told the BBC that Ukraine was willing to be “flexible” over its goal to join the transatlantic military alliance.
“We might – especially being threatened like that, blackmailed by that, and pushed to it,” he was quoted as saying.
Responding to the ambassador’s comments, Zelenskyy’s spokesman said Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO and the European Union are envisaged in its constitution and remain the absolute priority to the country.
German chancellor heads to Kyiv
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has landed in Kyiv before visiting Moscow on Tuesday.
The visit follows that of French President Emmanuel Macron last week, as Russian troops mass on Ukraine’s borders.
“In the event of a military aggression against Ukraine that threatens its territorial integrity and sovereignty, that will lead to tough sanctions that we have carefully prepared and which we can immediately put into force,” Scholz said before his departure.
War can start ‘at any time’: US
Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, has said an invasion could begin “any day now”.
“We cannot perfectly predict the day, but we have now been saying for some time that we are in the window,” Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.
