USA and NATO continue to drum for war
Blame game in Donbas continues
Will Russia Attack Ukraine? Yes, say the US and major media around the world. However, the dates for such an attack have passed. The drums for this event continue to sound.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden have accepted "the principle" of a summit to ease tensions in Ukraine, the White House and the French presidency have said, prompting a series of increasingly urgent diplomatic efforts led by Emmanuel Macron to defuse the crisis completed.
The possibility of a meeting between the Russian and US presidents comes on the heels of mounting fears over the past few days that Moscow could launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Those fears were compounded over the weekend when Belarus said 30,000 Russian soldiers participating in joint exercises will remain in the country indefinitely.
Moscow has deployed up to 190,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, including those taking part in exercises in Belarus, despite earlier pledges to return to their bases.
Macron held two lengthy phone calls with the Russian leader on Sunday, which a French official described as "part of the last possible and necessary effort to avoid a major conflict." He also spoke to Biden separately.
Following these talks, the French Presidency announced that Macron had proposed a "summit meeting between President Biden and President Putin, and then with the relevant stakeholders, to discuss security and strategic stability in Europe."
He added that the content will be prepared at a meeting scheduled for Thursday between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The summit can only take place "on condition that Russia does not invade Ukraine," according to the statement from the Élysée Palace.
There was no confirmation from the Kremlin of the proposed summit, but the White House said: "President Biden accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin following this talk [between Lavrov and Blinken], again on the condition that there would be no invasion ."
A Biden administration official told the Financial Times that the format and timing of a possible summit between Biden and Putin "is yet to be determined" and that it is "entirely fictitious."
France said Putin also agreed to a trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Monday to enforce the ceasefire at the 500km "line of contact" in eastern Ukraine.
The conflict between Russian-backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region has escalated in recent days. The separatists have accused Ukrainian forces of violating the ceasefire and ordered the evacuation of civilians, which Kiev and its western allies say could be a pretext for a Russian invasion. Kiev reports heavy shelling of its positions on the front line.
Earlier, the Kremlin said Putin recognized "the importance" of finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis "through the foreign ministries and political advisers of the Normandy Format countries," meaning Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.
"It is up to these contacts to ensure the restoration of the ceasefire and progress in settling the Donbass conflict," it said, without confirming a specific agreement on further talks.
Putin blamed the clashes in eastern Ukraine on "provocations by the Ukrainian security forces," while the US accused Moscow of creating false pretenses for an attack.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said Sunday that Putin and his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko made the decision to extend the drills indefinitely because of "increasing military activities on [the countries'] eastern borders and the worsening situation in Donbass."
Blinken said Washington believes Putin has decided to invade Ukraine but that diplomacy is still an option. Highlighting the US President's willingness to speak to the Russian leader, Blinken told CBS: "Even if the die is cast, we will do everything we can to prevent it until we know that the tanks roll, the planes fly and the aggression has begun.
"But we are prepared either way, and we are prepared with a response that will have massive consequences for Russia if it did