Ukraine-Russia crisis: Here’s everything you need to know and who’s involved

Here's everything you need to know about the Ukraine-Russia crisis and what other countries are involved.

High-stakes diplomacy and military maneuvering continued Wednesday as Britain launched its own diplomatic effort to help avert a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. No breakthrough in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia is in sight so far, and Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s intentions remain as opaque as ever.

Here’s a look at what is happening where and why:

Britain is following France‘s diplomatic foray into the Ukraine crisis. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss flew to Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to travel to Poland and NATO headquarters on Thursday.

Russia has deployed well over 100,000 troops near Ukraine, fueling fears of a possible invasion. French President Emmanuel Macron, who talked with Putin in Moscow this week, reported that Putin told him that Russia would not further escalate the tensions.

But the Kremlin denied that any agreement on calming things down was reached Tuesday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that “in the current situation, Moscow and Paris can’t be reaching any deals.” Russian officials also say that Moscow has no intentions of invading Ukraine.

Truss, making the first visit to Russia by a U.K. foreign secretary in four years, took a tougher line than Macron as she set out, repeating the numerous Western warnings that a Russian offensive carried the threat of strong political and economic sanctions.

Any Russian invasion of Ukraine “would bring massive consequences for all involved,” she said. “Russia has a choice here. We strongly encourage them to engage, de-escalate and choose the path of diplomacy.”

U.S. consular services inside Poland are preparing for a potential surge of Americans living in neighboring Ukraine who may decide to flee if Russia invades.