Ukraine and Moscow-backed separatists in the east have traded accusations of shelling across the cease-fire line, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accusing the separatists of shelling a kindergarten, as NATO said Moscow was ready to launch a full-scale invasion of its neighbor at any time.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken changed his travel plans at the last minute on February 17 to speak at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine amid rising tensions.
Media reports also said that Moscow had delivered Russia's response to Washington's security proposals to U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan in Moscow on February 17.
Check out RFE/RL's new live briefing on the massive buildup of Russian forces near Ukraine's border and the diplomacy under way to prevent a possible invasion. Ukraine In The Crosshairs presents the latest developments and analysis, updated throughout the day.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after a two-day meeting of the alliance's defense ministers in Brussels on February 17 that the Russians "have enough troops, enough capabilities to launch a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine with very little or no warning time."
"That is what makes the situation so dangerous," Stoltenberg added.
The Ukrainian military's command center in the east said separatists had, "with special cynicism," fired heavy artillery at a village in the area controlled by Kyiv and "the shells hit a kindergarten," wounding two civilians.
Zelenskiy said the shelling...
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