Russia And Belarus Extend Military Drills; West Worries Invasion Is Imminent

Russia will extend military drills in Belarus that were due to end on Sunday, the Belarusian defence ministry announced, in a step U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said made him more worried about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The defence ministry said the decision was taken because of military activity near the borders of Russia and Belarus as well as the situation in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region.

Sporadic shelling across the line dividing Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in that region increased sharply last week and continued on Sunday.

Speaking to CNN, Blinken said that while all signs suggested Russia was on the brink of invading, the United States and its allies would use every diplomatic opportunity to dissuade the Kremlin. Russia has repeatedly denied any plan to attack, and accuses the West of whipping up fears of war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, agreed in a phone call on the need for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine, both governments said.[nL1N2UV07O]

A French presidential adviser said the two agreed that a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with representatives from Ukraine and Russia, be held on Monday.

Poland, currently the OSCE chair, earlier said that at Ukraine's request it was convening an extraordinary session of the council, which is dedicated to preventing armed conflict, on Monday.

Belarus did not say how long Russian troops in Belarus - estimated by NATO to number 30,000 - might now remain in the country, which lies north of Ukraine. Belarus Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin said the focus of the extended exercises was "to ensure an adequate response and de-escalation of military preparations of ill-wishers near our common borders".

The Kremlin did not comment on the Belarus drills. The Macron adviser said that Putin had reiterated that the troops would leave Belarus after the exercises.

NATO says Russia could use the troops in Belarus as part of an invasion force to attack Ukraine. Moscow denies any such intention.

"It is not an exaggeration to say that Europe is a step away from war, which was something unimaginable not long ago," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in a TV interview.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, told Reuters the extension of the exercises underlined that official promises from Moscow should not be taken as binding.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the repeated warnings by the West that Russia was about to invade were provocative and could have adverse consequences, which he did not spell out. Russia says the West has raised tensions by sending NATO reinforcements to eastern Europe during the crisis.

SANCTIONS

Western countries are preparing sanctions they say would be wide-reaching against Russian companies and individuals in case of an invasion.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a BBC interview that such sanctions could include restrictions on Russian businesses' access to the dollar and the pound. However, he acknowledged such threats may not deter Moscow, saying Putin may be "thinking illogically".

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it was time for the West to implement at least part of the sanctions it has prepared against Russia.

"Russia has to be stopped right now. We see how events are unfolding," Kuleba said.

The focus of tensions in recent days has been on the swathe of eastern Ukraine that Russian-backed rebels seized in 2014, the same year Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. More than 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in the east.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in the eastern part of the country. Macron blamed the separatists for the renewed hostilities, while Putin blamed Ukraine, the French presidential adviser said.

On Sunday, a Reuters reporter heard explosions in the centre of Donetsk city in the eastern Donbass region controlled by separatists. Heavy shelling was heard elsewhere in the region.

SMS messages sent to residents of Donetsk urged men to report for military duty.

More than 30,000 people from Donetsk and nearby Luhansk have crossed the Russian border in the past 24 hours, TASS news agency said, quoting authorities in Russia's Rostov region. The separatists began evacuating residents on Friday saying Ukraine was planning to attack - which Kyiv denies.

Kyiv's Western allies are concerned Russia might use the escalation as a pretext for wider conflict.

Local military forces in one of the separatist areas, Luhansk, said on Sunday that two civilians had been killed and five buildings damaged in shelling by the Ukraine military. Russia's Investigative Committee will investigate the case, the RIA news agency quoted it as saying.

Two Ukrainian soldiers were reported killed and four wounded on Saturday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said water services had been disrupted for more than a million people in the region, and called on all sides to spare civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine's foreign minister Kuleba said Ukraine was not planning or carrying out any offensive operations.

TROOP BUILD-UP

The renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine follows a build-up over several weeks of Russia troops to the north, east and south of the country. The West estimates 150,000 or more Russian troops are currently near Ukraine's borders.

Russia has demanded NATO prevent Ukraine from ever joining the alliance. It has warned of unspecified "military-technical" measures if its demands for NATO pullback from Eastern Europe are not met.

U.S. President Joe Biden was due to convene his top advisers later in the day to discuss the crisis. Biden said on Saturday he believed Russia could launch an attack "at any time", despite Kremlin assurances some troops were returning to permanent bases after military exercises.

A Russian diplomat at the U.N. said no one should tell Russia where or when to conduct exercises.