Ukraine confirmed today, Monday, its adherence to joining the NATO NATO (NATO), one of the reasons for tension with Moscow, at a time when the latter announced that there are opportunities to resolve the crisis with Kyiv diplomats, and for its part, America announced the transfer of its embassy from Kyiv temporarily.
Russia announced that there are "opportunities" to resolve the crisis through diplomatic channels, in light of Western warnings of the outbreak of an imminent war and the assurances of American sources that Russian preparations entered their final stages to launch military action against Ukraine.
"I must say that there is always an opportunity to solve the problems that need to be solved," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin..
But Lavrov confirmed that the Western response on the issue of lack of security is not appropriate for his country, adding that Moscow will seek answers to security guarantees, including Ukraine's accession to NATO.
He stressed that Russia has no intention to talk with the West indefinitely about the security demands, but the dialogue must be continued, he said.
In turn, Putin asked his minister to follow up consultations with the West on the main issues that raise Russia's security concerns.
In a separate meeting with the Russian President, Defense Secretary Sergey Shoigo said that some maneuvers will end soon.
Shoigo Putin informed the details of forcing a foreign submarine to leave the Russian territorial waters in the east of the country, adding that the widespread foreign military activity in the far east is incomprehensible and unjustified, as he put it.
The Minister of Defense indicated that part of the huge military exercises currently underway in the country and Belarus are close to ending.
American position
After the Russian position, a US State Department spokesman told the island that the administration of President Joe Biden is working hard to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine.
The spokesman added that the president explained to his Russian counterpart that there is a diplomatic path to proceed with it if Moscow is ready to reduce the escalation.He said that Washington supports efforts to implement the Minsk agreement, noting that Russia's withdrawal of its forces from eastern Ukraine will be a new start of the agreement..
He added to Al -Jazeera that President Biden made it clear to Putin that if Ukraine is invaded, Washington and its allies will impose heavy costs on Russia..
For his part, US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby reiterated that the Russian military action against Ukraine may occur at any moment.
Kirby revealed - during a meeting with the American CNN network - that the Russian president has several options, including a large -scale traditional military action, or an attack similar to what happened in the 2015 Donbas region.
In a related context, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkkin confirmed that Washington began moving its embassy from Kyiv to West Ukraine temporarily due to the great acceleration in the Russian military crowd, and added that there is a limited team being transferred to a city near Poland to carry out diplomatic operations.
On the position on Russia in light of the ongoing crisis, Blinken said, "We are working for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis after the call of Presidents Biden and Putin, and the dialogue channels remain open.".
"At any moment"
The Russian position, which some explain as a step on the path of calm, comes at a time when Western warnings continued to the possibility of the war in Ukraine..
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the situation in Ukraine is very dangerous, and that all European countries should work not to rely on the "Nord Stream 2" line..
For its part, British Foreign Minister Liz Toss said that recent information indicates that Russia may invade Ukraine at any moment, and urged the Kremlin to reduce the escalation.
Trus added in a tweet that she had headed a meeting of the emergency committee regarding the seriousness of Russian threats to Ukraine, and that the British focus is on the security and safety of British citizens in Ukraine, as she put it..
In turn, the British Armed Forces Minister said that Russia may attack its western neighbor without warning, and the American media spoke about intelligence information indicating that tomorrow, Wednesday, it will be a possible date for the start of the invasion.
The American CBS network said that satellite photos show the movement of Russian forces from their gathering points to offensive sites.
The network had reported - 3 sources - that the United States is preparing to withdraw all its employees from the Ukrainian capital within 24 to 48 hours.
"CNN", on American intelligence sources, said that the Russian forces had entered the final preparation phase to use a military option against Ukraine..
The New York Times reported that US officials obtained intelligence information that Russia is considering starting a possible military action against Ukraine the day after tomorrow.
However, the newspaper reported - on a number of officials who were informed of this information - the possibility that the indication of a specific date be part of a Russian misleading attempt.
On Friday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that the Russians were in a position that enables them to launch a major military action in Ukraine on any day, indicating that the invasion may begin before the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics activities that conclude on February 20..
Meanwhile, the Russian Information Agency quoted the Kremlin as saying that the relations between Moscow and Washington have reached the "bottom" despite the increasing bilateral dialogue recently..
"The two countries are in contact, and there is a dialogue on another level, this is a positive development because you know that only two years ago there was no dialogue and there was no such contacts at all," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the agency..
He continued, "But for the rest of the aspects, unfortunately, only negatives can be talked about in bilateral relations, we have reached a very low level, it is in the bottom.".
Peskov said that Russia is working on the final touches of its foreign policy according to the developments of the current situation, stressing that his country is not ready to transfer the security dialogue to a system of negotiations that extend years..
Geopolitical
In the midst of the currently escalating tension, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz arrived today in Kyiv, to continue diplomatic efforts in order to avoid what may be the worst crisis in Europe since the Cold War..
Schultz is scheduled to go tomorrow to meet the Russian President in Moscow, in the footsteps of French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited her last week.
Ukrainian President Foludmir Zellinski said - at a press conference with the German advisor in Kiev - that his country is still seeking to obtain NATO membership, and confirmed that this joining "will guarantee its security".
Zelinski added that it is important for his country to be able to buy weapons to "repel the aggression" and that "some leaders are hinting that we should not talk a lot about joining NATO, but the decision to join our hand.".
The Ukrainian President told the German advisor during the meeting that his country is considered the controversial gas pipeline "Nord Stream 2" - which links Russia and Germany - a "geopolitical weapon" that can be used.
The value of the "Nord Stream 2" project is $ 11 billion, which is a network of tubes that were extended under the Baltic Sea in order to transport Russian gas to Germany, and it is scheduled to be transported 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas through this project.
In turn, German Chancellor Russia urged to seize "dialogue offers" aimed at stopping the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.
"The military activities of Russia on the Ukrainian border are incomprehensible, there are no reasonable reasons for this military deployment, and we ask them to seize the offers of dialogue presented," Schultz said..
"We are working hard to prepare a Western sanctions package on Russia, and we are ready to take the necessary decision at any moment," he added..
Russia has mobilized - according to some western sources - about 130,000 soldiers near its borders with its western neighbor, but it - which included the Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 - denies that it has any intention to invade, but it requires to stop the escalation a set of demands Among them is a guarantee that Kyiv does not join NATO, and Westerners reject this condition.
Some of the headlines of the Western press reflected escalating concerns about the explosion of the conflict, as the British newspaper "Mirror" titled "counting the war" and said, "The bloodshed waving in Europe.".
Seek to reduce the escalation
In light of this tension, the Belarusian Defense Secretary Victor Khrienin made a phone call to his Ukrainian counterpart, Olexi Residence.
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said that the communication came on a Ukrainian initiative, and dealt with relations between the two countries and steps towards achieving confidence and ensuring security in the region.
She added that the Minister of Defense assured his Ukrainian counterpart that the Belarusians and the Ukrainians are brothers, and that Minsk was not the inhabitant of tension and escalation with Kyiv.
Last week, Russia announced the launch of training for the rapid deterrent forces from Russia and Belarus in the last territories.
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Coliba said that he had contacted his American counterpart to continue coordinating efforts to protect Ukraine.
Coliba explained that he discussed with Blinken the work of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Fears of airlines
While efforts to defuse the crisis are accelerating, some global airlines avoided the airspace of Ukraine, despite Kyiv's announcement that it is not necessary to close it..
Reuters quoted the OPS Group as saying today that it expects to avoid more Ukrainian airlines..
This came after the Royal Dutch Airways company announced that it would stop its flights to Ukraine and the trips it is traveling through its air field, while the German company Lufthansa confirmed that it is studying its suspension of its flights as well.
The agency stated that the "Flight Radar 24" platform to track the air traffic shows that the flights of British Airlines between London and Asia today seemed to avoid Ukrainian airspace..
A British Airlines pilot said - in a tweet on Sunday - that the time of air freight trips from London to the Thai capital, Bangkok, has increased due to "the current geopolitical conditions".
It is noteworthy that the Malaysian Airways flight plane (MH17) was shot down in eastern Ukraine with the explosion of the conflict there in 2014, and all 298 people were killed, two -thirds of them are Dutch and Dutch..
Quality weapons for Ukraine
Military, Ukraine confirms that it has prepared to resist any attack, and received Sunday from Lithuania a shipment of American anti -aircraft missiles, as well.
The three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) announced earlier that they would provide Ukraine with anti -tank missile systems, aircraft and equipment needed to enhance the defense military capabilities in the event of a Russian attack..
The Czech Republic also plans to donate to Ukraine with a 152 mm artillery with 4 thousand 152 mm shells.
The American Embassy in Kyiv announced the arrival of two military aid planes to Kyiv, as part of Washington's support to strengthen Ukraine's defenses.
Steinger anti -air target missiles, at low altitude, is one of the latest US -made anti -aircraft missiles, helicopters and marches..
Sininger is a light surface -to -air missile, carrying on the shoulder, and has the ability to hit the atmosphere in any part of it.
Washington had provided the Afghan Mujahideen last century with this type of missile, and they were able to destroy about 270 Russian aircraft and helicopters with Steinger missiles.
Since 2014, Washington has presented more than 2.5 billion dollars of military aid to Ukraine, and sent 8 new air shipments of weapons worth 200 million to Kyiv, which included the Gvain anti -tank missiles, deadly ammunition, Humifi vehicles, radar systems.