Ukraine

In talks that lasted more than eight hours, political advisors from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany, who on Wednesday (26 January) met for talks in Paris, reaffirmed their commitment to uphold a ceasefire agreed in the so-called Minsk accords.

The EU is not following the US in withdrawing its diplomats’ families from Ukraine, top European diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday (24 January), adding that there was no need to “dramatise” the situation while talks with Russia continue.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has accused Germany of "undermining unity" and "encouraging Vladimir Putin" by refusing to supply weapons to Kyiv amid heightened fears of a possible Russian invasion.

Western countries insisted on Thursday they would be unified in responding strongly to any Russian assault on Ukraine, shifting into damage control after US President Joe Biden suggested divisions about how to react to a "minor incursion".

Russia is a sending an unspecified number of troops from the country's far east to Belarus for major war games, officials said Tuesday, a deployment that will further beef up Russian military assets near Ukraine amid Western fears of a planned invasion.

NATO on Monday inked a deal to bolster its cyber support for Ukraine, after a sweeping hacking attack against Kyiv heightened tensions amid fears that Russia could be plotting an invasion.

Efforts to de-escalate tensions along the Russia-Ukraine border shift Thursday to Vienna and a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Permanent Council. The session follows a bilateral meeting between Russia and the United States in Geneva on Monday and talks Wednesday in Brussels between Russia and NATO.

The US and its allies sat down with Russian envoys amid heightened tensions over Russia's troop buildup near Ukraine. While no gaps were bridged, NATO said it was ready for more talks with Moscow.

A Nato official confirmed on Tuesday that secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has scheduled a special meeting with allied ambassadors and Russian diplomats on 12 January in Brussels, Reuters reported. The meeting will take place amid tensions over Russia's military build-up around Ukraine.

EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell vowed the bloc’s full support for Ukraine Wednesday (5 January) as he visited the country’s war-torn east just ahead of a flurry of talks between Western and Russian officials on the crisis, in which the EU had been largely left out. Borrell’s visit was the first-ever visit by an EU foreign policy chief to eastern Ukraine since war broke out nearly eight years ago.