Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday invited his US counterpart Joe Biden to visit Kyiv to show Washington's support for his country in the face of the threat of a Russian invasion.
"I am confident that your visit to Kiev in the coming days will be a strong signal and will contribute to stabilizing the situation," the Ukrainian presidency quoted Zelensky as saying to Biden during a phone call between them earlier on Sunday.
But Washington did not mention this call at all in its statement about the phone call between the two presidents, which lasted about 50 minutes.
And the White House reported that Biden and Zelensky agreed to continue the "diplomacy" and "deterrence" approaches toward Russia.
He added that Biden reiterated during the call his promise of a "quick and decisive response" from the United States, in coordination with its allies, in the event of a Russian attack, reiterating his support for "Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Schultz in Kyiv and Moscow
On Sunday, the United States reiterated that the Russians could attack Ukraine "at any time" after the failure of the latest diplomatic efforts, a "critical" situation that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will try to defuse Monday in Kyiv and Tuesday in Moscow.
Germany, accused of being lenient towards Russia, toughened its tone on Sunday.
"We are in the midst of a military conflict, a war in Eastern Europe, and Russia bears responsibility for that," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after being re-elected president.
For his part, Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the West would impose sanctions "immediately" on Russia if it invaded Ukraine.
The Financial Times quoted a German diplomat as saying that the German chancellor's visit to Kiev and Moscow is an attempt to spare the region from war. The diplomat told the newspaper that the German chancellor seeks to understand the Russians' goals and the possibility of returning to dialogue.
In his new statements, the German chancellor called on Russia to stop the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, and warned that it would face sanctions if it invaded Ukraine.
"For this reason it is necessary to be clear, and to say clearly that if a military aggression against Ukraine endangers its sovereignty, integrity and territorial integrity, it will lead to severe sanctions that we have carefully prepared, and that we can implement immediately with our allies in Europe and within NATO," Scholz added.
The situation does not seem reassuring with the presence of 130,000 Russian soldiers stationed along the Ukrainian border, carrying out extensive military exercises, and the lack of a diplomatic solution to easing tension so far.
Field and military situation
It was reported that the Russian warships started the active phase of their maneuvers in the Black Sea by pushing their largest warships.
The submarine (Rostov) crossed the Dardanelles Strait. It is a sophisticated diesel-powered submarine that carries Kalibr missiles and follows the Black Sea Fleet and was located in the Syrian port of Tartus.
It will join more than 30 Russian naval units, including destroyers, frigates, minesweepers and landing ships, to carry out large-scale exercises for the Russian Navy.
During the exercises, the ships, warplanes and coastal forces of the Russian fleet will carry out artillery and missile shooting operations at sea, coastal and air targets.
In a related development, Russian and Belarusian forces conducted joint military exercises in the (Brest) and (Gomel) fields near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, as part of the ongoing maneuvers between the two countries, titled "Union Resilience".
The exercises will continue until February 20, and simulate fighting battles against an attack by an imaginary enemy, in which units of the Special Forces and the landing forces participate, and for the first time units of the Russian forces of the Eastern Military District participate in the maneuvers.
With the approach of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States and NATO moved to provide Kyiv with Western defensive weapons in confronting Moscow.
Western military support to Ukraine
After successive military shipments from various Western countries, Ukraine received from Lithuania a shipment of American (Stinger) anti-aircraft missiles.
The three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, had announced earlier that they would provide Ukraine with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems, and equipment necessary to enhance Ukraine's military defense capabilities in the event of a Russian attack.
The US embassy in Kyiv announced the arrival of two planes of military aid to Kyiv as part of US support to strengthen Ukraine's defenses.
The Stinger anti-aircraft missile at low altitude is one of the latest American-made anti-aircraft, anti-helicopter, and anti-drone missiles. It is a light, shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missile that has the ability to hit the air target in any part of it.
Earlier, the United States delivered boats to the Ukrainian Navy equipped with Stinger missile systems.
In the last century, Washington supplied the Afghan mujahideen with this type of missile, and they were able to destroy about 270 Russian planes and helicopters with Stinger missiles.
Eight new air shipments of weapons worth $200 million were sent to Kyiv, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, lethal munitions, Humvees and radar systems.
Britain provided Ukraine with 2,000 short-range NLAW anti-tank missiles and sent British specialists to provide training along with Saxon armored vehicles.
avoid war
For his part, said Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser that Washington's disclosure of intelligence information about a possible invasion aimed at avoiding war, not starting it.
In an interview with CNN, Sullivan stressed the readiness of the United States and its allies to respond unified and decisively in the event of this invasion.
Sullivan noted that the world should be prepared to see Russia create a pretext to attack Ukraine.
At the same time, John Kirby, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, said that the lack of tangible change after the phone talks between Biden and Putin indicates that things are not going in the right direction.
Kirby added in an interview with the US news network (Fox News) that there is no sign that Putin has any intention to reduce escalation and tensions.
The United States announced the withdrawal of all American staff from the mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Donetsk, where the mission is monitoring the ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Australia and Canada began evacuating their embassies in the Ukrainian capital.
On the other hand, Russia expressed its concern over the decision of some countries to withdraw their employees from the OSCE observer mission operating in the Donbass region.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington is using the OSCE observer mission as a tool of provocation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the activities of the observer mission are required today more than at any time, in light of what it described as an artificial escalation.
Moscow called on the presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to take a firm position to prevent the attempt to exploit the observer mission for provocative purposes, as it put it.
'Very dangerous' situation
Senior US officials reiterated on Sunday that the Russians may attack Ukraine "at any time", the day after a phone call between Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin did not lead to "optimism" signs, they said.
A source in the German government - who did not want to be identified - acknowledged that Germany's concern has increased about the possibility of an invasion, and the source said, "Our concern has increased.
It is not known whether this situation will prompt Germany to reconsider its reluctance to deliver weapons to Ukraine, which it suspended within the framework of NATO, and the fate of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to bring Russian gas to Europe via Germany.
Last week, the German chancellor assured a group of US senators that the pipeline project "will not move forward" if Russia invades Ukraine.
Airspace is open
Despite Western concerns, the Ukrainian government pledged on Sunday to keep its airspace open.
And the Dutch airline (KLM) announced, on Saturday, the suspension of all flights in Ukrainian airspace until further notice, in the face of the increased risks.
The company is no longer flying over eastern Ukraine since the crash of the MH17 plane connecting Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, killing 283 passengers and 15 crew members, and Moscow has long denied any involvement.
To keep pace with the potential increased demand due to other airlines' cancellations, Air France "increased capacity" with Airbus A321, rather than the smaller A319.
And British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said, on Sunday, that there is "something of the smell of Munich in the air" in this crisis, in reference to the agreement concluded in 1938 with Nazi Germany, which failed to avoid World War II.
And while Joe Biden once again promised a "quick and decisive" response from the United States in coordination with his allies, Moscow "does not care" about the dangers of Western sanctions, said the Russian ambassador to Sweden, veteran diplomat Viktor Tatarntsev, in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.