KYIV: Washington reaffirmed its warning that Russia could invade Ukraine at any moment and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz prepared to visit both countries in a bid to head off a crisis that Berlin said had reached a “critical” point.
Kyiv also scrambled to keep its airspace open after KLM became the first major airline to suspend its operation because of the threats posed by Russian troops conducting military drills across Ukraine’s frontiers.
Western countries are winding down their diplomatic missions and urging their citizens to leave immediately after a frantic week of diplomacy failed to calm one of the most explosive standoffs since the Cold War.
US President Joe Biden briefed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky about an hour-long conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin he had on Saturday that brought made no breakthrough.
Zelensky’s office said the Ukrainian leader had invited Biden to visit Kyiv “in the coming days” to show his moral support and deliver “a powerful signal” to Russia.
Washington made no mention of an invitation in its readout of the 50-minute call. But US national security advisor Jake Sullivan issued a grim assessment that an invasion that could begin “any day now” would likely start with “a significant barrage of missiles and bomb attacks”.
Western leaders are pushing back against Putin’s demands that the US-led Nato alliance withdraw from eastern Europe and never expand into Ukraine.
But Putin is dismissing calls by Biden and others to pull back Russian forces from Ukraine’s frontiers.
Washington has warned that the Russian deployments, estimated at 130,000 soldiers backed by various missiles and tanks, was sufficient to launch a major attack “any day”.
Germany’s Scholz said on the eve of his crunch trip to Kyiv Monday and Moscow Tuesday that Western allies would “immediately” sanction Russia if it invaded.
“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,” he said.
“We assess the situation as very critical, very dangerous,” a German government source added.
The Dutch carrier KLM on Saturday became the first major airline to indefinitely suspend flights to the former Soviet republic because of the rising risks.
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