In a telephone call, US President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against invading Ukraine.

The White House said Saturday after the call that Biden had said an invasion would "cause great human suffering and tarnish Russia's reputation."

The result would be a resolute response from the United States and its allies, with dire consequences for Moscow.

Biden has again made it clear that the United States is still ready for diplomatic talks, but "also prepared for other scenarios".

According to information from those close to Biden, the phone call did not lead to a significant change in the previous positions.

It is also unclear whether Russia is willing to rely on diplomacy.

It could also be

French President Emmanuel Macron had previously spoken to Putin on the phone.

According to France, they exchanged views on how to implement the Minsk agreement.

In the 90-minute conversation, Macron told Putin that serious negotiations were incompatible with an escalation of tensions in Ukraine, the presidential office in Paris said.

Both heads of state had expressed "the will to continue the dialogue".

Macron also wanted to speak to Chancellor Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the evening.

In his conversation with Putin there was no indication that Russia was planning an offensive.

American President Joe Biden also wanted to call Putin on Saturday.

Speaking to Macron, Putin dismissed reports of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine as "provocative speculation".

In the conversation, the Russian head of state also accused Kiev's western allies of supplying Ukraine with "modern weapons", as the Kremlin announced.

"Conditions are being created for possible aggressive actions by Ukrainian security forces in Donbass."

The United States, meanwhile, has announced that it will withdraw nearly all of Ukraine's remaining troops amid escalating tensions with Russia.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has "ordered the temporary relocation of the 160 members of the Florida National Guard," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Saturday.

The soldiers should therefore be stationed in another European country.

The US government continues to support the Ukrainian armed forces, Kirby said.

However, the deployment of the soldiers offers "flexibility in securing allies and deterring aggression".

Since 2015, National Guard reservists have been advising and training the Ukrainian army together with soldiers from other NATO countries, primarily Canada and Germany.

On Saturday, the US State Department also asked all employees of the embassy in Kiev who were not urgently needed to leave the country.

The ministry has "ordered the departure of most directly employed staff" due to the ongoing threat of Russian military action, an updated travel advisory said.

The consular service in the embassy has been suspended, and a consular presence will be maintained in Lviv in western Ukraine for emergencies.

The government had repeatedly warned in the past few days that a Russian attack on Ukraine could begin "at any time" and urged citizens to leave the country immediately.

Russia itself also withdrew parts of its diplomatic staff from the neighboring country on Saturday.

Many other countries, including Germany, asked their citizens to leave the country.

According to Western sources, Russia has massed more than 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border in recent weeks.

The troop build-up and Russian military exercises in neighboring Belarus and in the Black Sea are fueling fears in the West of an invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow rejects any attack plans and at the same time accuses Kiev and NATO of "provocations".