Ukraine seeks meeting with Russia within 48 hours, tensions subject to discussion

Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba said Russia had ignored official demands to explain troop deployment.

He said the next “steps” was to require a meeting within the next 48 hours for “transparency” regarding Russia's plans.

Russia has denied any plans to invade Ukraine, despite the gathering of about 100,000 soldiers at the Ukrainian borders.

Kuleba said Ukraine had requested, on Friday, answers from Russia under Vienna's document rules -- an agreement on security issues approved by members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSBE), which includes Russia.

“If Russia is serious when it speaks of the uncertainty of security in the OSCE space, it must meet its commitment to military transparency in order to de-specise tensions and increase security for all”, he said, the BBC, records Clankosova. tv

Several Western countries have warned that Russia is preparing for an invasion, with the US saying it could begin with air bombing “at any time”.

More than a dozen nations have asked their citizens to leave Ukraine, and some have withdrawn embassy staff from the capital, including the US.

But Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky, who criticised “panik” that could be spread by such claims, said there was no evidence Russia was planning an invasion in the coming days.

On Sunday, President Zelensky spoke for nearly an hour on the phone with American President Joe Biden. The White House said Biden reiterated US support for Ukraine and that the two leaders had agreed to “the importance of continuing to pursue diplomacy and prevention”.