Several airlines to Ukraine cancelled, others diverted

Some airlines have cancelled or diverted flights to Ukraine amid added fears that an invasion by Russia is imminent, despite intensive weekend talks between the Kremlin and the West.

In an hour-long conversation Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Joe Biden said that the invasion of Ukraine would cause broad human humanity “and that the West is committed to diplomacy to end the crisis.

He had added, however, that there are “the same type prepared for other scenarios”.

Russia denies its intention to invade, but has gathered over 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and sent troops to the exercise in neighbouring Belarus.

American officials say the rise in Russia's firepower has reached the point where it can soon conquer.

The Dutch airline, KLM, has cancelled flights to Ukraine until further notice.

The Dutch's sensitivity to possible danger in Ukraine's airspace is high after a Malaysian plane crashed in 2014 over an area of eastern Ukraine led by Russian-backed rebels. All 298 people on board died, including 198 Dutch citizens.

Ukrainian airline SkyUp said on Sunday that its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kiev, slipped into the Moldovan capital Chisinau after the Irish landlord said he was stopping flying Ukraine's airspace.

The Putin-Biden call, following a call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, came at a critical moment for what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. American officials believe they have only a few days to prevent a major invasion and bloodshed in Ukraine.

While the US and its NATO allies have no plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, an invasion and punitive sanctions may have echoed beyond the former Soviet republic, affecting energy supplies, global markets and energy balance in Europe.

Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from placing arms close to its border and withdraw alliance forces from Eastern Europe.

Russia and Ukraine have been involved in a fierce conflict since 2014, when Ukraine's friendly leader over the Kremlin was thrown out of office by a popular uprising.

Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then supporting a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, where fighting killed over 14,000 people.

A 2015 peace agreement mediated by France and Germany helped prevent large - scale battles, but regular clashes have continued and efforts to reach a political solution have stalled. / REL/