FT: The US had to convince its allies to prepare Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine

The article says that in order to convince some countries, the United States used diplomatic "interaction" and disseminated its intelligence information, RIA Novosti reports.

According to one source, many of the US allies "were not sure that something serious was going on."

Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that there is a "very serious threat" to Ukraine from Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia is interested in joining efforts with the United States to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

Assistant to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov, commenting on Kiev's statements about the alleged possibility of an escalation on the part of Russia, said that the Russian side has the right to move troops on its territory and "there is no talk of any kind of escalation."