Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine’s northern border, in a move that U.S. leaders warned put Russia another step closer to launching an invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin was silent on Ukraine’s appeal for a cease-fire. Russia’s action extends what it said were military exercises, originally set to end Sunday, that brought a sizable contingent of Russian forces to Belarus, Ukraine’s neighbor to the north. The presence of the Russian troops raised concern that they could be used to sweep down on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, a city of about 3 million people less than a three-hour drive away. U.S. President Joe Biden convened the National Security Council at the White House on Russia’s military buildup around Ukraine. White House officials released no immediate details of their two-hour discussion. Western leaders intensified warnings that Russia was poised to attack its neighbor, which is surrounded on three sides by at least 150,000 Russian soldiers, warplanes and equipment. Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea. The United States and many European countries have charged for months that Russia is trying to create pretexts to invade. They have threatened massive, immediate sanctions if it does. “ We’re talking about the potential for war in Europe,” U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday at a security conference in Munich, Germany. “It’s been over 70 years, and through those 70 years … there has been peace and security.”   A top European Union official, Charles Michel, said: “The big question remains: Does the Kremlin want dialogue?” “We cannot forever offer an olive branch while Russia conducts missile tests and continues to amass troops,” said Michel, the president of the European Council. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Saturday on Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose a place where the two leaders could meet to try to resolve the crisis and on Sunday appealed for a cease-fire on Twitter. Russia has denied plans to invade, but the Kremlin did not respond to Zelenskyy’s offer to meet. It was Belarus — not Russia — that announced the extension of the drills. NATO has estimated there are 30,000 Russian troops in Belarus. After a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin blamed Ukraine for the escalation at the contact line and NATO for “pumping modern weapons and ammunition” into Ukraine. The Kremlin statement mentioned a cease-fire only in passing and made no mention of Zelenskyy’s call for a meeting. In Kyiv, life continued seemingly as usual on a mild winter Sunday, with brunches and church services. Katerina Spanchak, who fled the separatist-occupied Lugansk region years ago, said she prayed for peace. “We all love life, and we are all united by our love of life. We should appreciate it every day. That’s why I think everything will be fine,” Spanchak said outside services at St. Michael’s monastery. But in Lugansk, the area of eastern Ukraine where her parents still live, and neighboring Donetsk, separatist leaders ordered a full military mobilization and sent more civilians to Russia, which has issued about 700,000 passports to residents of the rebel-held territories. Claims that Russian citizens are being endangered might be used […]

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