Europe

“The situation in Ukraine is the result of a complex chain of circumstances over the last thirty years. Most countries, such as India and France, which is very active, are seeking a diplomatic solution… In the case of Ukraine, a lot of it derives from the post-Soviet politics, the expansion of NATO, the dynamics between Russia and Europe, and Russia and the West broadly,” Minister Jaishankar said in an interview to French newspaper Le Figaro. 

"This is the most dangerous moment in European security for a generation," NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg said at the conclusion of an extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission in Brussels on Tuesday. "Europe and North America continue to stand strong together in NATO, committed to defend and protect each other," he added.

In a statement, von der Leyen on Tuesday said EU member states had given their political consent to a new package of sanctions against Russia following its recognition of the independence of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The package contains a number of "calibrated measures" targeting banks that finance the Russian military apparatus and contribute to the destabilisation of Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree which recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (provinces) in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine as independent People’s Republics. Minsk II (2015) followed the Minsk I agreement which was signed in September 2014 but failed to reinstate peace. Here're key highlights of Minsk I&II agreements (together known as Minsk Protocol).

“(Macron) proposed a summit to be held between President BIDEN and President PUTIN and then with relevant stakeholders to discuss security and strategic stability in Europe. Presidents BIDEN and PUTIN have both accepted the principle of such a summit,” The Elysee said in a press release after the French President spoke to his Russian and American counterparts.

Two of the fatalities were reported in the inland Mazovia province, the country's most populous province where the capital Warsaw is located, according to Poland's meteorological institute IMGW. The other two deaths were reported in the west Greater Poland province and east Lublin province, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Full support to Ukraine in this situation of the military, economic, and psychological pressure," Maasikas was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian National News Agency, adding that "all EU member states' embassies continue to operate." On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced that the US would temporarily relocate its embassy in Ukraine from the capital Kiev to the western city of Lviv, citing escalating tensions on Ukraine's borders, Xinhua news agency reported.

James Heappey, the UK's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, said that he believes Europe is closer to war than it has been for 70 years, the BBC reported."There's 130,000 Russian troops around the borders of Ukraine, thousands more on amphibious shipping in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea," he told the BBC.

The meeting was businesslike and useful, Putin on Monday said at a joint press conference with Macron following their hours-long talks in the Kremlin, Xinhua news agency reported. Russia's core concerns on security were ignored by the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), while the military alliance attempts to lecture Russia on where and how to place its armed forces, the Russian President added.

“If war breaks out, it will come at an enormous human cost to Ukraine, but we believe that based on our preparations and our response, it will come at a strategic cost to Russia as well,” Sullivan said. “We believe that the Russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into Ukraine, and we have been working hard to prepare a response,” he added. He made these comments even as the US sent 1700 troops to Poland “to defend NATO territory”.