A Russian invasion of Ukraine is 'highly likely', the UK Foreign Secretary said today.
Liz Truss said the UK and allies are "stepping up preparations for the worst case scenario" after a meeting today with NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg.
She tweeted: "Diplomacy must be pursued but a Russian invasion of Ukraine looks highly likely.
"The UK and allies are stepping up preparations for the worst case scenario. We must make the cost for Russia intolerably high."
Downing Street today said the UK’s intelligence suggests “President Putin’s plan has in effect already begun”.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said “we are seeing elements of the Russian playbook” in such situations “starting to unfold in real time”.
He added “intelligence we have suggests they still intend to launch an invasion” but stressed there is still a “window for diplomacy”. He said: “The intelligence we’re seeing suggests Russia intends to launch an invasion - I’m not saying it has started.”
It comes after despite and the US agreeing to last-ditch talks over the Ukraine crisis amid mounting fears of an imminent invasion.
The meeting, brokered by France, has been accepted "in principle" by US President Joe Biden - but only "if an invasion hasn't happened", the White House said.
"We are always ready for diplomacy," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
"We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war."
The Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr Biden could set up a call or meeting at any time but there were no firm plans yet for a summit.
More than 150,000 Russian troops are massed around Ukraine's borders, according to US estimates, with 130,000 along the country's eastern flank and tens of thousands alongside Belarusian troops in the north.
Fears have been mounting that Russia will stage "false flag" attacks to justify further aggression against Ukraine.
A senior UK source told the Mirror that they believed an invasion was "going to happen in the next 24 to 48 hours".
It comes following a flurry of late-night calls between French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Putin.
Mr Macron's office and the White House said details of a possible summit could be hammered out during a meeting on Thursday between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The development offered a glimmer of hope of a diplomatic solution - but Western leaders still fear a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent.
Despite the prospect of talks, the White House said the Kremlin was continuing to prepare a "full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon".
In the UK, business minister Paul Scully warned that Moscow had amassed 7,000 extra troops on the Ukrainian border within the past few days.
"So there is a very, very credible threat and that's why we've got to continue to be vigilant, we've got to continue to work with Ukraine and Poland, as Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, was doing just this week," he told Sky News.
The minister also warned "the loss of life will be horrendous" if Mr Putin does not engage in diplomacy after French President Emmanuel Macron sought to broker a meeting during a series of calls.
Boris Johnson signalled that the prospect of Mr Putin still being "willing to engage in finding a diplomatic solution" was a "welcome sign".
But No 10's account of the Prime Minister's own call with Mr Macron during the diplomatic flurry over the weekend did not appear overly optimistic about the prospect of a Russian climbdown.
The leaders "underscored the need for President Putin to step back from his current threats and withdraw troops from Ukraine's border", Downing Street added.
Heavy shelling in Ukraine continued on Monday in the heightened tension between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatist rebels in the Donbas region.
Mr Johnson and other Western allies have suggested the shelling was part of a "false flag" attempt by the Russians to stage a pretext to attack.
