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Moscow, Russia Fyodor, a middle-aged Russian man, pulls out his phone from his pocket and scrolls through photos of himself and several others in camouflage fatigues.

They are holding up assault rifles and machineguns next to the white, blue and red of a Russian flag decorated with the emblem of their unit, a sword-and-shield with an Orthodox cross.

Our group was called the Russian Orthodox Army, even though Im an atheist and we had both Christians and Muslims, he told this reporter in a Moscow cafe, before swiping to the next photo.

This guy on the left, he was a local guy. He was a Muslim, and he was my friend. He died.

Fyodor, or Fedya for short, does not want to be known by his real name.

In 2014, after watching the Ukraine conflict from afar, he says he was wary of propaganda and decided to travel to the Donbas to see for himself. He ended up joining the Russia-backed separatist movement in eastern Ukraine, taking up arms with local rebels.

They were fighting a war with the central government in Kyiv, which they saw as having taken power in an ultranationalist coup during the Euromaidan revolution.

Once, eight of us were out on patrol through a field when we came under mortar fire, he recalled. I dont know how we survived. There was debris flying all around me, I hurt my shoulder, and I still had to carry another guy who injured his legs. Im not a believer at all but it was a real miracle all of us got out of there alive.

Fyodor saw how the war brought out the worst in people, and the grim realities of the rebels own brand of justice. He claims he once came across a 12-year-old girl who had been raped.

The man that did this, lets just say hes not around any more, he said ominously. I would have him brought to trial, personally, but I understand the people that put him up against the wall.

When he took the girl to hospital, he saw how locals in Donetsk perceived the conflict.

The staff took him aside and asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would wish them a Happy New Year in his annual, televised address to the nation.

Unlike Crimea, separatist Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) and Luhansk Peoples Republic (LPR) were never absorbed into the Russian Federation. Neither were they recognised by any member states of the United Nations, including Russia.

You can see that they really wanted to be part of Russia, but that never happened, even though most of them have Russian passports now, he said, referring to Russias policy that has seen many in the rebel-controlled areas handed citizenship in recent years.

I cant speak for all of them, of course, but if you tell someone from Donetsk they are Ukrainian, theyll take that as an insult. I kind of feel bad for them, like we let them down.

Fyodor believes there is a distinct possibility of the current standoff escalating, but says he would not return to the front.

Sooner or later, I think, this conflict will turn hot. The guys at the front lines are under strict orders not to shoot, but you understand it only takes one shot from the other side and some hot-headed lads will return fire.

If a war does break out, I hope at least we will get to Kharkov, he said, using the Russian name for Ukraines second-largest city.

To Ukrainians, the northeastern metropolis is Kharkiv, a former industrial centre in the Soviet era.

Ninety-nine of the population there supports us anyway, claimed Fyodor, who is happy to watch the tensions from afar these days, as he works in advertising.

I wouldnt go back to war now, even though some of the lads are talking about it and theyre trying to draw me back in. Id only return to deliver humanitarian supplies. My shoulder still hurts sometimes from that mortar blast.

Yuri Tikhonov is another veteran, originally from Pskov in western Russia.

Like Fyodor, he was in his 30s when he travelled to the Donbas in November 2014 after watching events unfold on news channels.

Having spent his compulsory military service doing tech support, his only experience with firearms had been, to that point, firing three shots out of a rifle. He was understandably anxious.

Id taken part in re-enactments, but its one thing running around with a sword and another charging the battle lines with an assault rifle, Tikhonov, now in Saint Petersburg and working in construction, told Al Jazeera by phone.

I didnt have any romantic notions of war: my parents were veterans and knew what it was really like. But I had my mind set and I knew if I didnt go, Id never respect myself.

Im ashamed I didnt head there sooner because the closer to the start of the conflict, the more important each step. Another 15-20 men could decide the outcome of one battle.

When he arrived, Tikhonov was sent near the town of Debaltseve, where he handled communications and radio intel.

He was grateful not to be assigned to any assault divisions since he is as large as an elephant and cannot shoot.

His duties included listening in to the Ukrainian army, which transmitted their artillery coordinates openly over the air.

We listened in to the chatter from the Ukrainian army, who at the time were very poor at hiding their signals. We knew exactly where they were firing. It was very satisfying hearing: Fire! No, stop, stop! They can hear us! Theyre driving away! he said.

Even though he was not on the front line, Tikhonov still had a couple of close calls.

Luckily, no one ever fired on me directly, but looking back, I can see how I was so young and nave and I wasnt really scared of anything, he said. I was installing an antenna on a roof when suddenly we came under mortar fire. I figured I didnt have time to run and take cover. So I just stood there and clung on I was more scared of dropping the antenna.

In January and February 2015, Tikhonov took part in the battle of Debaltseve.

Id go outside for a smoke while artillery rounds are whizzing over my head, like a passing train but much faster, while mortar rounds whistled as they flew past, he said.

But we managed to defend Debaltsevo until February, when we handed it over to the LPR.

After that, Tikhonov and his team did not take part in any more battles and by April, it was time to go home.

War is very interesting. If you have good people around you, its remarkable. Id go down to the cellar to eat dinner with the other volunteers, sat down and listened to their stories of how they ended up there, and youre proud to stand side-by-side with them, he said.

I was assigned to the communist volunteers detachment, and even though Im far from a communist, we were all united.

They love their people and are willing to sacrifice their lives for them, so matter what their politics are, youre always on the level with them.

However, he was ashamed of all the looting he saw, particularly from his own side.

The LPR practically robbed entire cities, he said. They told [people] they were about to come under fire so everyone hid in the basement, while their apartments were ransacked.

Yuri does not think there will be another war, since taking over territory not to mention ruling it is an expensive undertaking for which the Russian government does not have the capacity.

Sure, it would be nice if all the Russian-speaking peoples lived together as one, but the government doesnt need Ukraine as another part of Russia, he said.

Ive heard theyre being real careful now and not letting just any new volunteers to the front line. For these sort of escalations, you need completely controllable people that wont try to storm Mariupol by themselves, because if you hit them too hard and the Ukrainians retreat, then well have to capture more territory. No one wants this.

The Russian army simply doesnt have the resources for such an expansive operation, he added. We might reach Kharkov, and thats it.

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Ex-Russian separatists on whether another Ukraine war is possible - Al Jazeera English

HELSINKI As the threat of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine grew, the European head of state with the longest and deepest experience dealing with Vladimir V. Putin fielded calls and doled out advice to President Emmanuel Macron of France and other world leaders desperate for insight into his difficult neighbor to the east.

What do you think about this about this, what about this, or this? Thats where I try to be helpful, said Sauli Niinisto, the president of Finland, as the harsh light gleaming off the snow and frozen bay poured into the presidential residence. They know that I know Putin, he added. And because it goes the other way around Putin sometimes says, Well, why dont you tell your Western friends that and that and that?

Mr. Niinisto, 73, said his role was not merely that of a Nordic runner, shuttling messages between East and West, but of borderland interpreter, explaining to both sides the thinking of the other. The departure from politics of Angela Merkel, who for years as Germanys chancellor led Europes negotiations with Mr. Putin, has made Mr. Niinistos role, while smaller, vital, especially as the drumbeat of war grows louder.

But Mr. Niinisto is not optimistic. Before and after his last long conversation with Mr. Putin last month, he said, he had noticed a change in the Russian. His state of mind, the deciding, decisiveness that is clearly different, Mr. Niinisto said. He believed Mr. Putin felt he had to seize on the momentum he has now.

He said it was hard to imagine that things would return to the way they had been before. The opposing sides disputed the Minsk agreement that the Russians insisted be honored. The remaining options boiled down to Russia pressuring Europe and extracting demands from the United States for the foreseeable future, or, he said, warfare.

Such plain speaking has made Mr. Niinisto, in the fifth year of his second six-year term, wildly popular in Finland. He is compared by some to Urho Kekkonen, who took power in 1956 and ruled Finland for 25 years, during the so-called Finlandization period of the Cold War.

We love him, said Juha Eriksson, as he sold Reindeer pelts, canned bear meat and smoked salmon sandwiches in a market next to ice shards in the bay. My generation had Kekkonen and he was the father of the country. And he is a little something like that. Its a pity that he must leave office soon.

Mr. Niinisto plays down his near 90 percent approval rating as consistent with his predecessors and dismisses the hyperbolic talk of his being some kind of Putin whisperer. Its an exaggeration that I somehow know more about Putin or his thinking, he said. He is clearly cautious about upsetting a relationship he has nurtured over a decade, including many meetings, countless phone calls and a game of ice hockey. Asked who was better, he responded diplomatically, Ive been playing all my life.

But he did point to some concrete benefits. After gaining support from Ms. Merkel, he said that he asked in 2020 if Mr. Putin would let Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who accuses Russian operatives of poisoning him, to be flown to Germany for medical treatment. Mr. Navalnys office later thanked Mr. Niinisto.

He is a good person to call when you want to understand what is happening in the northeastern corner of Europe and especially if you want to understand the thinking of President Putin, said Alexander Stubb, a former prime minister and foreign minister, who has accompanied Mr. Niinisto in meetings with Mr. Putin. Hes a mastermind in power politics and in finding the right balance.

That Mr. Stubb was so effusive about the president itself said something about Mr. Niinistos overwhelming popularity, and political dominance, in Finland, as political tensions between the two are widely talked about here.

Mr. Niinisto derives his power from a critical national security meeting that he runs and from the Constitution, which states that foreign policy is led by the president of the republic in cooperation with the government.

Feb. 15, 2022, 5:59 p.m. ET

Its the president pause who is leading in cooperation, Mr. Niinisto explained, making it clear who came first.

Finnish officials say that Mr. Niinisto sheds his diplomatic modesty in private, and is known for his long political memory, cutting style and mission creep. I have been sometimes criticized for remembering too much my old history as minister of finance, he said with a smile.

Domestic policy is the territory of the prime minister, currently Sanna Marin, a 36-year-old former cashier and climate change campaigner who raised Mr. Niinistos ire in January, according to Finnish political observers, when she told Reuters that it was very unlikely that Finland would apply for NATO membership while she was in office.

I still say only that I see no major damages, he said, with visible restraint. Asked if her statement was constructive, he said I just repeat, no damages.

The NATO option mattered in Finland as a strategic tool to manage Mr. Putin. In a country with an abundance of sayings about the incorrigible nature of Russians (A Russian is a Russian even if you fry them in butter) Mr. Niinisto recalled one about Russian soldiers, saying, The Cossack takes everything, which is loose, which is not fixed.

The Kremlins position. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has increasingly portrayed NATOs eastward expansion as an existential threat to his country, said that Moscows growing military presence on the Ukrainian border was a response to Ukraines deepening partnership with the alliance.

Despite recalling that Mr. Putin once said the friendly Finnish neighbor would become the enemy soldier if it joined NATO, Mr. Niinisto, who boasts about Finlands impressive artillery, frequently asserts Finlands right to become a member of the alliance. I have said it to Putin too, very clearly, he said.

Mr. Niinisto has also spoken directly to other leaders he suggested were threats to democracy. In a memorable joint news conference at the White House in 2019, he looked squarely at President Donald J. Trump and said, You have a great democracy. Keep it going on.

He doesnt respect institutions, Mr. Niinisto said of Mr. Trump in the interview, whether it was the European Union or NATO. And the Finn considered the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building a worrying sign for American democracy.

But in dealing with Mr. Putin, Mr. Niinisto tried to give Mr. Trump some pointers before a summit in 2018 in Helsinki, actually behind that wall, he said pointing across the room. Before a solicitous public performance that was widely considered a disaster for Mr. Trump, Mr. Niinisto told Mr. Trump that Mr. Putin respects the one who is fighting back.

Mr. Niinisto has said he told Mr. Biden something similar ahead of Mr. Bidens call with Mr. Putin over Ukraine last month.

Besides the difficulty of dealing with Mr. Putin, Mr. Biden and Mr. Niinisto share another, and tragic, history. In 1995, Mr. Niinistos first wife died in a car accident, leaving him to raise his two young sons.

I know his history, Mr. Niinisto said quietly, adding that he might bring it up to the American president, who also lost his wife in a car crash as a young politician, someday maybe if I had the possibility of having a longer sit with him.

Mr. Niinisto also picked up the pieces. In 2009, then the speaker of Parliament, he married Jenni Haukio, then a 31-year-old director of communications for the National Coalition Party and now a poet. They have a 4-year-old son, and their dogs have become beloved national mascots.

Before the couple met, he was engaged to Tanja Karpela, a former Miss Finland who was a member of Parliament in an opposition party. They broke up in 2004, and Ms. Karpela now trains scent detection dogs that track Siberian flying squirrels.

The year of their breakup coincided with the devastating tsunami in Thailand, where he was vacationing with his sons and was nearly swept away. He survived by clinging high up on an electric pole for more than an hour. The traumatic event still seemed to shake the staid president, who lost a hundred countrymen that day. People who were sitting beside you at breakfast, he said.

That was a natural disaster. Now he hoped his relationship with Mr. Putin, and the small moves it might create, would help his partners avoid a man-made one in Ukraine.

Dangerous times, he said.

More:
Finland's President Knows Putin Well. And He Fears for Ukraine. - The New York Times

Some diplomats and experts speculated that the White House had little appetite for a Senate confirmation hearing that could devolve into a debate about Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany that members of both parties have criticized Mr. Biden for not opposing more vigorously. Republicans might also use a confirmation hearing to dredge up the past business activities in Ukraine of Mr. Bidens son, Hunter, although one Senate Republican official said he was aware of no plans to do so.

Also unclear is why Ukraine might not have immediately signed off on Ms. Brink, a Foreign Service officer for more than two decades who has been posted in two other former Soviet republics, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

The Kremlins position. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has increasingly portrayed NATOs eastward expansion as an existential threat to his country, said that Moscows growing military presence on the Ukrainian border was a response to Ukraines deepening partnership with the alliance.

Mr. Zelenskys office has consolidated much of its foreign policy activity with his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who speaks regularly to Mr. Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in what has become the center of gravity of the U.S.-Ukrainian relationship. It is possible the Ukrainians prefer to keep it that way.

Ukrainian officials in recent years have also seen American ambassadors as patronizing scolds who continually issue statements and call meetings to reprimand Ukrainian elites over insider dealing and good governance failures.

And then there is the memory of the Trump years, and the dismissal of Ms. Yovanovitch. In the events leading to his impeachment, Mr. Trump, hoping to damage Mr. Biden before the 2020 election, leveraged U.S. military aid to pressure Mr. Zelensky to investigate Hunter Bidens work for a Ukrainian energy company, according to testimony during the impeachment hearings.

In April 2019, Mr. Trumps personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani persuaded the president to remove Ms. Yovanovitch from the position after she opposed Mr. Giulianis efforts there to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden. (No evidence of wrongdoing was found on the part of Hunter Biden or his father. Mr. Trump denied doing anything improper and was acquitted in his Senate trial.)

In a reminder that the position can get tangled in Ukraines contentious domestic politics, some Ukrainian officials encouraged Mr. Giulianis opposition to Ms. Yovanovitch because her focus on anti-corruption initiatives threatened their interests. The countrys top prosecutor at the time, Yuriy Lutsenko, referred to Ms. Yovanovitch in a text message to an associate as an idiot, according to evidence released during the impeachment proceedings.

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Puzzle in Ukraine Crisis: Wheres the U.S. Ambassador? - The New York Times

Melinda Simmons, the British ambassador to Ukraine, has been winning plaudits for her decision to stay in post in Kyiv, working with a much-reduced staff to help UK citizens out of the country and to manage the steady flow of British dignitaries still flying to the country to show their solidarity.

Given the clarity, frequency and urgency of the British intelligence warnings of an imminent Russian invasion, including the possibility of airstrikes, it is surprising that she has until now insisted she remain in situ alongside a core team.

Her decision to stay put, along with most EU embassies, will be popular with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. He is deeply unhappy that some western embassies including the US, Canada and Australia decided to move from Kyiv to Lviv or other cities in the west of the country. At a joint briefing on Monday Zelinskiy said he was determined to prevent an exodus of his political and business class, and questioned their logic. There is no western Ukraine, he said. There is Ukraine; it is integral. Because if, God forbid, something happens, it will be everywhere.

Simmonss decision to stay may also be an implicit admission that the Foreign Office did not cover itself in glory in its handling of the fall of Kabul.

It might be thought that the Conservative press would treat her decision to stay put as a sign of the sangfroid on which the British diplomatic class like to pride themselves. But Douglas Murray, associate editor of the Spectator, took umbrage at her admissions that she sometimes needed to take walks to relieve herself of stress. When exactly did Simmons-like behaviour become our national character? When did me-time and self-esteem replace stoicism? People used to talk of drawing on reserves in a crisis, not least because it gave confidence to our friends and allies as well as to ourselves. Clearly that isnt the case now.

Those who know her say she is regarded as a highly focussed humanitarian, and part of a new generation of British female ambassadors.

Born in the East End of London to Jewish parents, her family is from Poland on her fathers side, but her mothers side is both Lithuanian and Ukrainian. Fluent in German and French, she came into the diplomatic network in 2003 via the Department for International Development (DfID) relatively late 10 years after university, and after spending time in advertising and marketing, which she quit in disillusionment, taking a 50% pay cut to work for a peace-building NGO. Her husband was a journalist specialising in Africa. Her DfID career had a heavy Africa focus and she specialised in conflict resolution and prevention. Her move to the Foreign Office in 2013, and to the National Security Secretariat, meant a drift from soft to harder power. In 2018 she started language training in preparation for taking up her post in Kyiv in 2019. For the de-stressing reviled by the Spectator she tries baking and boxing.

Inside the Foreign Office she has tried to be a trailblazer, but admits it can be hard, once saying: I think its really difficult to build the courage to speak up for yourself. Often for women, thats just a step too far out of your comfort zone, plus theres a real why bother button that switches on in your head. Giving yourself permission to be heard is hugely empowering. She awards herself one specialist skill the ability to pick up the phone to anyone, no matter how senior, to get her point across.

Apart from shepherding British citizens on to commercial flights or over the border into Poland, her key task is to manage the sometimes fractious relations between the Ukrainian government and Britain. There is for instance great resentment in Ukraine about the wests dire warnings of a Russian invasion, warnings that the UK has been at the forefront of.

She has also not been afraid to sound the alarm bells over any backsliding in Ukraines fight against corruption.

She recently told one Ukrainian interviewer: When Brits think about Ukraine, by large they think about corruption and they think about war. She said pretty pictures of the Carpathian mountains or Odessa will not shift that narrative. By contrast, positive stories about progress in tackling corruption and positive stories about Ukraine growing in strength as a confident democracy, these are the things that will alter the perceptions of Brits.

See the rest here:
UK ambassador to Ukraine praised for staying put amid fears of invasion - The Guardian

World leaders are staging talks with Russia this week in a last-ditch attempt to stop Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine after months of escalating tension.

The UK government claim negotiations have reached a "critical juncture" and are desperately needed to bring the Kremlin "back from the brink of war".

With more than 100,000 Russian troops assembled at the Ukrainian border, inside Belarus and across the Black Sea, US intelligence officials claim an invasion could happen at "any moment".

Ambassador backtracks comments on Ukraine's NATO membership - live updates

Russia, however, continues to deny it is planning to go to war, but has showed little sign of backing down from its demands over Ukraine and NATO.

Here Sky News looks at who the key players are in the crisis.

Russia

Vladimir Putin

A former KGB agent, Putin has led Russia since 2000 and become synonymous with the country's increasingly hostile foreign policy.

Over the past two decades he has sought to reassert Russian dominance in the East, illegally invading and annexing the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014.

Russian troops began to appear on its border with Ukraine in late-2021, before the Kremlin made demands in December that NATO ceases all military activity in eastern Europe and Ukraine is never allowed to become a member.

He has repeatedly denied he is planning to invade Ukraine, but hasn't demonstrated any will to negotiate on his demands around Ukraine and NATO.

Sergei Lavrov

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been a key negotiator in the crisis, meeting with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and numerous others from across the West.

He has been in post since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

In the run-up to the invasion, he told John Kerry, the US secretary of state at the time, that Russia had "absolutely no intention of, or interest in, crossing Ukraine's borders".

He previously told Mr Blinken that chances of a breakthrough in talks were "low" and mocked Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, after she visited Moscow for being "unprepared" and compared their conversation to "talking to a deaf person".

Sergei Shoigu

The defence minister also holds the rank of general of the Russian army and has been touted as a potential successor of Mr Putin given the pair's close ties.

In post since 2012, Mr Shoigu oversaw the invasion of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine later accused him of forming illegal rebel groups who fought against the Ukrainian Army.

He has held talks with various Western powers during the recent crisis, describing UK-Russian cooperation as "close to zero" after a meeting in Moscow with his counterpart, Ben Wallace.

There are around 130,000 troops stationed on the Russian border, as well as warplanes and ships in the Black Sea.

Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

A former actor and comedian, political outsider Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the 2019 elections by a landslide.

Mr Zelenskyy has tried to distance Ukraine from Russia, despite Mr Putin's efforts to reassert influence on its former Soviet neighbour, instead setting his sights on both NATO and EU membership.

In response to the build-up of Russian troops at its border in late 2021, he called on NATO leaders to expedite Ukraine's membership and claimed a group of Russians and Ukrainian rebels were planning a coup to oust him.

He has the support of the West, including the United States, which has repeatedly said it would defend Ukraine should Russia invade.

Dmytro Kuleba

The Ukrainian foreign minister and a member of its National Defense and Security Council, Dmytro Kuleba is one of the youngest senior diplomats in the country's history.

He has repeatedly downplayed the imminent threat of a Russian invasion, accusing the US of exaggerating the danger.

During talks this month he maintained the Russian presence at Ukraine's border is "insufficient for a large-scale military operation".

And despite no sign of any Russian concessions, Mr Kuleba has insisted that Western presence in the region for talks "upsets the Kremlin's plans".

Denis Pushilin

After the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, two other areas, both in the eastern Donbas region, declared independence from Ukraine.

Both the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are backed by Russia.

The DPR's separatist leader Denis Pushilin has said that increasing Western support of Ukraine could mean a full-scale war with Russia breaking out at any time.

"I don't rule out that Ukraine can attack at any moment," he said.

Some 15,000 people have been killed in fighting between separatists and the Ukrainian Army since 2014 - with senior government sources claiming Russia has deployed around 2,000 personnel to support the region since tensions escalated late last year.

Belarus

Alexander Lukashenko

President Alexander Lukashenko is a firm ally of Mr Putin, with the two countries forming a so-called union state to support economic and military integration.

Russia has been staging military drills involving 30,000 troops inside Belarus and close to its border with Ukraine.

The strategic location of the exercises has prompted fears that should Russia go to war with Ukraine, soldiers would easily be able to access the capital Kyiv and stage an invasion.

Ukraine have described the drills as "psychological pressure", but like Mr Putin, Mr Lukashenko is still denying there is a planned invasion.

"I'm certain there will be no war," he said this month.

United States

With the crisis mounting and sanctions on both sides, relations between Russia and the United States have been described as "at their worst since the Cold War".

After Russian troops emerged at the Ukrainian border last year, President Joe Biden declared his support of Ukraine and threatened the Kremlin with "strong economic and other measures".

In January, Mr Biden was criticised for saying a "minor incursion" by Russia would result in a lesser response from western allies, before the White House clarified his comments.

The US has since been represented at negotiations by Mr Blinken, who has travelled to Kyiv and Switzerland in an attempt to talk Russia down.

Last month he said any form of Russian aggression against Ukraine would be met with a "swift, severe, united" response.

Europe

As well as NATO itself, European leaders have also been trying to negotiate with their Russian counterparts.

French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to use the Minsk accords it brokered between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists alongside Germany in 2014 and 2015.

The Normandy format within the ceasefire agreement facilitates all four countries sitting around a negotiating table together.

Mr Macron has spoken directly to both Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy in recent weeks but has been criticised for some of his interventions.

Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is also visiting both Kyiv and Moscow.

Mr Scholz's position is made more difficult by the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, which his Western allies have called on him to block, but on which no firm action has yet been taken.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is made up of 30 member states across Europe and America.

Russia and Ukraine are not members, but the latter has been pathing a way to NATO membership since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Mr Putin's main concern is NATO dominance in eastern Europe, where he is trying to re-establish Russia's Soviet-era influence.

He is demanding NATO never allow Ukraine to become a member.

Jens Stoltenberg, its secretary general, has said that a "sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine" is "key to Euro-Atlantic security" and is backing member states in their negotiations with Russia.

Although aiming for a peaceful resolution, NATO troops could be used to back Ukraine in the event of an invasion.

The rest is here:
Ukraine-Russia crisis: Who are the key players as war risks breaking out between Kyiv and the Kremlin? - Sky News