Misschien toch nog een diplomatieke oplossing:
French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday agreed to work for a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, Macron's office said. The two leaders also agreed on "the need to favour a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis and to do everything to achieve one", the Élysée said, adding that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov would meet "in the coming days". Follow FRANCE 24's live updates for all the latest.
6:30pm Paris time
Ukraine urges the West to impose sanctions
The US refuses to impose sanctions, despite repeated calls from Ukraine leaders to do so. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told Western leaders at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, "You tell me 100% that there will be war in a few days’ time. What are you waiting for?"
"We will not need your sanctions after there is a bombardment, or after our state is shot at, or if we have no more borders, we do not have an economy, or parts of our state is occupied," he added.
FRANCE 24's correspondent Gulliver Cragg said that the president's impassioned speech helped to rally public support.
01:43
5:30pm Paris time
Russia says West is whipping up tensions
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the repeated warnings by the West that Russia was about to invade were provocative and could have adverse consequences, which he did not spell out. Russia says the West has raised tensions by sending NATO reinforcements to eastern Europe during the crisis.
Western countries are preparing sanctions they say would be wide-reaching against Russian companies and individuals in case of an invasion.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a BBC interview that such sanctions could include restrictions on Russian businesses' access to the dollar and the pound. However, he acknowledged such threats may not deter Moscow.
5:00pm Paris time
Belarus says Russia will extend drills
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that a meeting with his Russian counterpart is set to go ahead next week, despite tensions ratcheting up a notch after Belarus said that Russia will extend the military drills that were due to end on Sunday.
"Everything we are seeing suggests that this is dead serious, that we are on the brink of an invasion. We will do everything we can to try to prevent it before it happens," Blinken said on CNN's 'State of the Union' show, adding that the West was equally prepared if Moscow invades.
"Until the tanks are actually rolling, and the planes are flying, we will use every opportunity and every minute we have to see if diplomacy can still dissuade President (Vladimir) Putin from carrying this forward," he said.
4:50pm Paris time
Russia, Ukraine and OSCE to hold trilateral talks
During their phone call, Macron and Putin agreed that there would be trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE on Monday. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and the French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will also speak by telephone on Monday, the Russian foreign ministry said.
Macron and Putin had different views on who is responsible for tensions in eastern Ukraine, an Élysée source said. Macron put blame on Russian separatists, while Putin said the tensions were Ukraine's fault.
During the call, Putin reiterated to Macron that Russian troops would leave Belarus after they had finished military exercises.
The French presidency said that this claim "will have to be verified", adding it appeared to contradict a statement by the Belarusian government that the Russian military would "continue inspections" beyond Sunday's previously announced end of the exercises, leaving Moscow with a large force near the northern Ukraine border.
4:06pm Paris time
Putin and Macron discuss need to step up Ukraine diplomacy
Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the need to step up the search for diplomatic solutions to the escalating crisis in eastern Ukraine in a phone call on Sunday, the Kremlin said in a statement.
"In view of the urgency of the situation, the Presidents acknowledged the need to intensify the search for solutions through diplomatic means via the foreign ministries and political advisers to the leaders