Russia Opens Door To Diplomacy In Ukraine Standoff
NDTV
While Russia said it was ending some military drills, signalling a possible easing of the crisis, in Washington the alert level remained high -- with a top official calling the threat of invasion "more real than ever before."
Russia appeared to open the door Monday to a diplomatic resolution of the deepening Ukraine standoff, as the United States said it believed Vladimir Putin had yet to make a final decision on invading the ex-Soviet state.
While Russia said it was ending some military drills, signalling a possible easing of the crisis, in Washington the alert level remained high -- with a top official calling the threat of invasion "more real than ever before."
As speculation mounted that Russian troops massed on the Ukraine border could launch an attack this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with the Russian president -- the latest in a series of visits by European leaders aimed at avoiding a full-blown conflict.
Previous visitors have been given short shrift by the Russian leader and his top aides, who have consistently argued that the current crisis is the result of the United States and western Europe ignoring Moscow's legitimate security concerns.
