Russia has demanded that the NATO alliance permanently rule out Ukraine\u2019s bid for membership
\n KYIV
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden have agreed to a summit — to be held only if Moscow does not invade Ukraine, France announced Monday following a frantic new round of diplomacy to avert an all-out war.
\nBoth leaders have said yes in principle to the summit, proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, his office said, with the White House confirming Biden\u2019s willingness, though it was notably cautious.
\nA senior administration official told AFP: \u201cTiming to be determined. Format to be determined so it\u2019s all completely notional.\u201d
\nThe Elysee added that the summit will be expanded to \u201crelevant stakeholders\u201d and that preparations would start between Russia and the United States on Thursday.
\nThe possible breakthrough came after Washington warned of an imminent invasion and Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for a spike in shellings on the front line separating Kyiv\u2019s forces from Moscow-backed separatists.
\nThe bombardments have sent Ukrainians fleeing to cellars and other shelters, while some civilians have been evacuated.
\nIn its own statement, the White House warned that it was still ready \u201cto impose swift and severe consequences\u201d should Russia invade.
\n\u201cAnd currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon,\u201d US press secretary Jen Psaki said.
\nWashington and other Western capitals say that Russia has massed more than 150,000 troops on Ukraine\u2019s borders and is ready to launch a full-scale assault.
\nMoscow denies any intention to invade its neighbour, but has demanded that the NATO alliance permanently rule out Ukraine\u2019s bid for membership and called for the withdrawal of Western forces deployed in eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War.
\nMacron-Putin calls
\nThe announcement of the summit came moments after Macron held his second marathon call with Putin of the day.
\nDuring their first, 105-minute discussion, Putin blamed the increase in violence on the front line on \u201cprovocations carried out by the Ukrainian security forces\u201d, according to a Kremlin statement.
\nPutin repeated a call for \u201cthe United States and NATO to take Russian demands for security guarantees seriously\u201d.
\nBut Macron\u2019s office also said the two had agreed on \u201cthe need to favour a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis and to do everything to achieve one\u201d.
\nThe second time the pair spoke, late Sunday evening, it was for an hour, the French presidency said. The announcement of the summit came shortly after.
\nEarlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia remained \u201con the brink\u201d of invading Ukraine.
\nUS media cited anonymous sources as saying that Washington received intelligence last week showing the Kremlin has given troops the order to attack. The White House, Pentagon and State Department did not confirm the reports when asked by AFP.
\nSatellite images from a US company also showed new Russian troop deployments along the border.
\nMacron also spoke with Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky, who called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of talks.
\n\u201cWe stand for intensifying the peace process,\u201d Zelensky tweeted, adding that he had informed Macron about \u201cnew provocative shelling\u201d on the front line between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels.
\nThat volatile front line has seen a \u201cdramatic increase\u201d in ceasefire violations, monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have said.
\nHundreds of artillery and mortar attacks were reported in recent days, in a conflict that has rumbled on for eight years and claimed more than 14,000 lives.
\n\u2018Shelling again\u2019
\nAFP reporters heard more bombardments overnight close to the front line between government forces and the Moscow-backed rebels who hold parts of the eastern districts of Lugansk and Donetsk.
\nIn Zolote, a frontline village in the Lugansk region, an AFP reporter found residents hiding in an earth-floored cellar roughly furnished when the separatist conflict erupted in 2014.
\n\u201cThese weeks they started shelling harder. Now they are shelling again,\u201d said 33-year-old handyman Oleksiy Kovalenko.
\nIn Moscow meanwhile, the US embassy warned Americans of potential attacks in public places in Russia.
\nScrews tighten
\nEarlier, fears of escalation mounted after Belarus announced that Russian forces would remain on its soil after Sunday\u2019s scheduled end to joint drills, further tightening the screws on Ukraine.
\nMoscow had previously said the 30,000 troops it has in Belarus were carrying out readiness drills with its ally, to be finished by Sunday, allowing the Russians to head back to their bases.
\nBut Belarus said it had decided with Russia to \u201ccontinue inspections\u201d, citing increased military activity on their shared borders and an alleged \u201cescalation\u201d in east Ukraine.
\nOccupied enclave
\nThe Moscow-backed separatists have accused Ukraine of planning an offensive into their enclave, despite the huge Russian military build-up on the frontier.
\nKyiv and Western capitals ridicule this idea, and accuse Moscow of attempting to provoke Ukraine and of plotting to fabricate incidents to provide a pretext for Russian intervention.
\nThe rebel regions have made similar claims about Ukraine\u2019s forces and ordered a general mobilisation, evacuating civilians into neighbouring Russian territory.
\n\u201cMy husband told me: take the children and go!\u201d 31-year-old nurse Anna Tikhonova told AFP from a camp at Vesselo-Voznessenka, Russia.
\nShe and her children had fled from Gorlovka, Ukraine, to the sound of gunfire, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia has demanded that the NATO alliance permanently rule out Ukraine\u2019s bid for membership KYIV Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden have agreed to a summit — to be held only if Moscow does not invade Ukraine, France announced Monday following a frantic new round of diplomacy to avert an all-out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[503,4314,456,633],"class_list":{"0":"post-245768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-joe-biden","9":"tag-tensions-soar","10":"tag-ukraine","11":"tag-vladimir-putin"},"yoast_head":"\n