Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a telephone conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday as tensions spike in the crisis over Ukraine, according to a Kremlin source.
The scheduled phone call between the French and Russian leaders comes at a moment of increasing tension over the situation in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not changed his plans to attend Saturday's Munich Security Conference, despite US warnings of a Russian invasion.
Without referring to US President Joe Biden's questioning of whether it would be wise to leave Kyiv, Zelensky's office issued a statement insisting the situation in Ukraine's east "remains under full control".
Zelensky will meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US Vice President Kamala Harris, his office said.
"Volodymyr Zelensky expects concrete agreements concerning the delivery to our country of additional military and financial support," his office said, adding that he would return to Kyiv later Saturday.
Warning that he believed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to invade Ukraine, Biden on Friday suggested "it may not be the wise choice" for Zelensky to attend that annual Munich conference.
"But it's his decision," Biden added.
Rebel call for mobilisation
The leaders of Ukraine's two breakaway regions announced a general mobilisation Saturday, spurring fears of a further escalation in fighting in the ex-Soviet country.
The announcements came after observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reported a significant rise in attacks on the frontline in parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
The two sides accused each other Saturday morning of fresh attacks.
Vladimir Putin will oversee major military drills on Saturday, further escalating tensions after Washington said Moscow would invade within days.
Artillery shelling in the east of Ukraine and orders from Russian-backed separatists for civilians to evacuate the region Friday inflamed an already febrile situation as Washington insisted Moscow was encircling its pro-Western neighbour.
One Ukrainian soldier was killed in the shelling by Moscow-backed rebels in the separatist east, the army said.
The Kremlin continues to say it has no plans to attack.
