Germany’s foreign minister has accused Russia of putting peace at risk with Cold War-like diplomacy, urging Moscow to take “serious steps towards de-escalation” of the Ukraine crisis.
It comes after the US president warned Russia could be about to stage a justification to invade Ukraine.
Joe Biden said military action could begin imminently but stressed that a diplomatic solution was still possible.
Russia said the claims were “baseless” and accused the US of stoking tensions.
Moscow says it is conducting military drills and says some troops have been moved back to their permanent bases in recent days. Western powers say they have seen no evidence of a withdrawal.
Joe Biden warned on Thursday that Russia could be about to engage in a false flag operation which would give it an excuse to invade Ukraine.
A false flag is a fabricated attack a country stages against its own interests in order to justify a retaliation. Russia denies having any such plans.
Later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave more details to the United Nations Security Council of what such a move could look like.
He said it was not clear what form a pretext for an attack could take, but that possibilities include “a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia, the invented discovery of a mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake – even a real – attack using chemical weapons.”
In the aftermath of such an incident, Mr Blinken said Russia’s government would likely “theatrically convene” an emergency meeting about protecting ethnic Russians in Ukraine – and Russian missiles and bombs would begin striking Ukrainian targets, alongside cyber-attacks.
The US has not provided evidence for the allegation, and Mr Blinken acknowledged that some people may question the claims. “But let me be clear. I am here today not to start a war but to prevent one,” he said.
The concerns were echoed by other Western leaders. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned of “a pretext for an armed attack”, while UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Prime Minister Boris Johnson alleged that a false flag operation was being planned.
Copyright BBC