US rings new alarm on Ukraine, Biden agrees ‘in principle’ to meet Putin | 10 points

The crisis in Ukraine continued to simmer on Monday as the United States sounded a fresh alarm over fears of a Russian invasion. Pointing towards Russia’s move to rescind earlier pledges to reduce troop amassment along the border with Ukraine, the US said the move placed the Kremlin a step closer to a planned invasion of Ukraine.

Here are the latest updates on the Ukraine conflict: 

• US President Joe Biden accepted “in principle” for a meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, a statement from the White House has confirmed. However, the meeting was conditional that an “invasion” had not already happened. 
• “We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. 

WATCH | Ukraine crisis: Biden, Putin agree to meet on a condition; Watch what the White House said

• The French Presidency has also confirmed the meeting. However, further details remain unknown about the summit, which was planned after several phone calls between French President Emmanuel Macron, Biden, Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
• US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are slated to meet later this week on Thursday (February 24). The substance of the Biden-Putin meeting will be decided in the foreign ministers’ meeting.
• Ukraine’s Zelenskyy called for a ceasefire on Twitter on Sunday. “We support the immediate convening of the TCG and the immediate introduction of a regime of silence,” he said in a tweet.
• Countries have also prepared for the worst case scenario. “Have evacuation plans that do not rely on US government assistance,” the US embassy in Moscow said in its latest advisory.
• India has asked its citizens whose stay is not essential and family members of embassy officials to move out of Ukraine. It asked those leaving to take available commercial or chartered flights for an “orderly and timely departure”.
• External affairs minister S Jaishankar met with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and discussed the evolving situation in Ukraine among other issues.
• The US has also prepared an initial package of sanctions on the scenario of an invasion. The sanctions could bar US financial institutions from processing transactions for major Russian banks, Reuters reported citing people familiar with the matter.
• Further, the US will place certain Russian individuals and companies on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list that would effectively exclude them from the US banking system, banning their trade and freezing their US assets, according to the Reuters report.

(With agency inputs)