Fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to mount.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call on Sunday to work on a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

According to the Kremlin, Putin blamed "provocations by the Ukrainian security forces" for the "escalation".

Accordingly, Putin said that NATO countries supplying Ukraine with "modern weapons and ammunition" make Kyiv seek a "military solution" in Donbass.

The Elysée Palace said the two presidents had agreed to take immediate steps towards a ceasefire.

A working group should therefore meet on Sunday.

According to a report by the American broadcaster CBS, the US has intelligence that Putin has already given the order for an invasion of Ukraine.

His commanders on the ground worked out battle plans.

President Joe Biden was "convinced" for the first time on Friday that Putin had already decided to invade.

The Biden government later said that this was “also” due to the fact that Russian troops were now even closer to the border and on increased combat readiness.

Moscow keeps troops in Belarus

The announcement from Moscow in the past few days that it would withdraw its estimated 30,000 soldiers from neighboring Belarus was seen as a possible sign of relaxation.

On Sunday, however, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Chrenin announced that Russian troops should remain in the country for the time being.

Due to "increased military activity on the external borders of the Union state and with the aggravation of the situation in Donbass", the maneuver "Union Resolve 2022" should be continued.

That was decided by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian ruler Alexandr Lukashenko.

The maneuver was originally supposed to end on Sunday;

Chrenin did not name a new date.

Russia and Belarus form the “union state”.

Its neighboring countries, according to the minister, would be "'pumped up' with the most modern weapons in an extraordinary, unscheduled manner".

Maneuvers and military modernizations in neighboring countries are directed against Russia and Belarus, Europe is being "pushed in a targeted manner in the direction of war," complained Chrenin.

"The idea that a war with the 'eastern neighbours' is inevitable is firmly anchored in the minds of western philistines."

Attacks in eastern Ukraine

In the conflict area in eastern Ukraine, there were new attacks on Sunday night.

The insurgents in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions announced in the morning that villages had been shelled several times since midnight.

The Ukrainian army also reported several violations of the current ceasefire.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has threatened Russia with more severe sanctions if it invades Ukraine.

The US and Britain were preparing to cut Russian firms' access to dollars and pounds, Johnson told the BBC.

EU Council President Charles Michel announced further financial support for Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday.

He had called for a donor conference.

A package worth 1.2 billion euros has already been put together.

Ukraine should be brought closer to the EU.