Moscow/Kyiv - Ukraine's ambassador to Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, backtracked remarks on Monday suggesting that Kyiv would reconsider its attempt to join NATO but said other concessions could be on offer.
Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and that the alliance will halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe.
Russia’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, advised President Vladimir Putin on Monday to continue talks with the West on Russian security demands amid tensions over Ukraine
A day after Washington said Russia could now attack Ukraine at any time on a surprise ploy, the Group of Seven large Western economies (G7) warned Russia of "massive" economic consequences if it did so and assured Ukraine swift support.
In a statement issued on Monday morning, finance ministers from the group of the world's wealthiest democratic nations - including the UK, US and Germany - say their immediate priority "is to support efforts to de-escalate the situation".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz flew to Kyiv for talks, to be followed on Tuesday by a meeting with Putin in Moscow, but a German official said Berlin did not expect concrete results.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the situation "very, very dangerous", "evidence is pretty clear" that Russia is planning an invasion of Ukraine. He also cut short a trip to Northwest England as he says there are "signs that show that there are serious preparations" being made by Russia.
A senior Russian military officer was cited by the news agency Interfax as saying Russia was ready to fire on foreign vessels that entered its waters illegally, though such a decision would have to be approved at the "highest level".
Despite having positioned more than 100,000 troops near to Ukraine's borders, Moscow denies planning to invade and has accused the West of hysteria.
The Kremlin said that if Ukraine renounced its aspiration to join the western military alliance, it would significantly help address Russia's concerns, and that President Vladimir Putin would meet his foreign and defence ministers on Monday.
Germany began sending troops on Monday to help NATO member Lithuania bolster NATO's border with Russia.
The Kremlin said it expected Putin's talks with Scholz on Tuesday to address Ukraine, security guarantees for Russia, and Nord Stream 2, which is awaiting European Union approval.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation was set to meet on Monday following a request from the Baltic states for information on Russia's manoeuvres in nearby Belarus.
But the RIA news agency cited Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov as saying Russia, a member of the OSCE, would not attend.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said its defence minister had spoken with his counterpart in Ukraine to help ensure security in the region. read more
Flight Cancellations
Wizz Air is operating all of its flights to and from Ukraine as normal but says it is closely monitoring the situation. The airline also advised passengers with booked flights to regularly check for further information.
On Sunday, KLM said it would stop services to Ukraine and Germany's Lufthansa is also considering suspending flights.
According to data company Cirium, Ryanair was the largest airline flying between Europe and Ukraine, followed by Wizz Air.
All as usual for Ukrainians
All is as usual in Ukraine. It doesn't feel like a country getting ready for war.
There are no soldiers standing on street corners, no sandbags being piled up, neither are there are any military checkpoints.
The capital city is not deserted and people are going to work as normal.
There are no visible preparations for a Russian invasion and the story at the moment is still political - the hope is it stays that way. There are no signs yet that anything is going to happen this week reported BBC.
-Reuters/AP/BBC