The United States has accused Moscow of a plot to fabricate an attack by Ukrainian forces that Russia could use as a pretext to take military action against its neighbour.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday offered to host a meeting with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia as Ankara pushes ahead with a bid to mediate the crisis.
Western powers fear a Russian incursion may be imminent given Moscow’s massing of more than 100,000 soldiers near the border with Ukraine, but the Kremlin denies having plans to attack.
It has instead blamed the US and the Washington-led NATO alliance for undermining the region’s security and demanded sweeping guarantees from the West.
The US has dismissed Moscow’s main proposals – that NATO cease activity in Eastern Europe and never allow ex-Soviet state Ukraine to become a member – as non-starters and moved to deploy troops to Eastern Europe to “deter and defend against any aggression”.
This live blog is now closed, thanks for joining us. Here are the updates for February 3.
29 mins ago (20:35 GMT)
French President Emmanuel Macron has held separate talks with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to try to make progress on the status of the Donbas region as part of efforts to defuse tensions, the French presidency has said in a statement.
The statement said Macron had stressed to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy the importance of discussing the conditions...
[OSEN=Ji Min-kyung reporter] Singer Park Hye-kyung has addressed rumors of infidelity surrounding her. Park Hye-kyung posted on her SNS on the 20th, writing, "This is absurd. Over 170,000 people w...