The West continued its diplomatic movement to defuse the crisis, as it fears a Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow denies, amid Russian-Belarusian and Ukrainian military maneuvers.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance is ready to respond to Russia's concerns and promote European security principles, describing Russia's military deployment as a threat to Europe's security.
Stoltenberg added - in a joint press conference with the British Prime Minister in Brussels - that the alliance is ready for the worst scenario regarding the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, but stressed the need to search for political solutions, and that Moscow had to choose between diplomacy and sanctions.
He said that NATO defense ministers will discuss next week the reinforcement of forces in southern and eastern Europe.
For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson - during his meeting with Stoltenberg - in Brussels, described the situation as worrying in light of the intense presence of Russian forces in the vicinity of Ukraine.
Johnson said, however, that he did not believe the decision to go to war had been made, stressing the unity of NATO countries in dealing with the crisis.
As part of the British move, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that Russia plans to start a strategic nuclear exercise soon.
Before his visit to Moscow on Friday, the minister warned that the Kremlin's actions were going in the wrong direction despite efforts to reach a diplomatic solution.
Wallace added that Britain had seen intelligence that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine under false pretenses and carry out cyber attacks and other destabilizing activities, as he put it.
In this context, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that Russia has two options: respect the sovereignty of Ukraine or the escalation and its repercussions.
Truss added that her country is waiting for Russia to take real steps on the ground to prove that it is not actually planning to invade Ukraine.
For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov likened his talks with his British counterpart to a dialogue of deafness, and expressed his belief that the West is using the escalation in the Ukrainian file to restore the collapsed popularity of Western politicians, as he described it.
Truss says that Russia has two options: respecting Ukraine's sovereignty or escalation and its repercussions, and Lavrov describes his talks with it as a deaf dialogue (Anatolia)
the situation is dangerous
For his part, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian considered that the joint exercises between Russia and Belarus are huge, and are an indication of extreme violence.
Le Drian said in an interview with France Inter radio that the situation is dangerous, and that Russia has provided itself with what allows it to carry out a new aggression against Ukraine.
He explained that he had not been informed of any confirmation that Russia had taken a decision to strike Ukraine, but that its 125,000 troops had gathered on the border with Ukraine was causing concern.
Le Drian stressed that the French and European position should center on showing strong firmness and obligatory solidarity with Ukraine and active dialogue with the Russians.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he had responded on behalf of the EU member states to the letters he had received from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Borrell stressed that tensions and differences must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, calling on Russia to stop escalation.
In Ukraine, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia is the only party creating a military escalation.
During his visit to Kiev, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau expressed the OSCE's concern about the increasing military deployment of Russian forces around Ukraine.
Normandy talks
Russian, Ukrainian, German and French representatives will meet in Berlin on Thursday as part of the Normandy format talks for the second time in a week after a meeting in Paris.
Both France and Germany expressed cautious optimism about the chances of a quick breakthrough in these negotiations.
A French diplomatic source revealed that it is important for the Berlin talks to stress the stability of the situation in the Ukrainian Donbass region as an important breakthrough.
The Normandy formula agreed in 2012 relates to a cessation of hostilities between the Ukrainian army and pro-Moscow separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (eastern Ukraine), which make up the Donbass region, followed by a political and economic process that leads to a new Ukrainian constitution by 2015 that decentralizes the two regions in agreement with their representatives.
maneuvers
On the ground, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the start of exercises for rapid deterrence forces from Russia and Belarus.
The maneuvers under the name "Union Resilience-2022" are taking place on Belarusian soil.
For its part, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the exercises - which will last 10 days - are of a defensive nature and do not pose a threat to the European community or neighboring countries.
On the other hand, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced the start of military exercises throughout the country.
Reznikov added that these maneuvers will be held in areas corresponding to the maneuvers that Russia is conducting on its borders, especially those that began Thursday on the territory of Belarus.
Navigational data showed the arrival of 3 American strategic B-52 bombers to Britain, and Stratofortress aircraft.
The B-52 is an American long-range strategic bomber, which is capable of carrying more than 30 tons of weapons, and has a typical combat range of more than 1,400 km without the need for refueling in the air.