Russia could invade Ukraine this week, warns Britain
Premium- We have seen no signs so far that Russia will back down. There are more than 130,000 Russian troops on the border of Ukraine, and we are gravely concerned, PM's office said
There is no sign yet that Russia will de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine and there is a "grave possibility" that Moscow could invade this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Monday.
"We have seen no signs so far that Russia will back down. There are more than 130,000 Russian troops on the border of Ukraine, and we are gravely concerned," the spokesman said.
The sovereign right of the Ukrainian people to join NATO cannot be traded away, Boris Johnson said on Monday, adding he would be talking to U.S. President Joe Biden "very soon" to help the diplomatic process.
"I think it is very important that we have a conversation. But what we can't do is trade away the sovereign rights of the Ukrainian people to aspire to NATO membership... you can't bargain that away - it is for the Ukrainian people," Johnson said.
"We have got to realise that this is a very, very dangerous, difficult situation. We are on the edge of a precipice but there is still time for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to step back, and what we are urging for is everybody to engage in dialogue."
Meanwhile, European Union official said that EU is preparing varied responses depending on what Russia might do to further destabilise Ukraine. It further stressed that the bloc does not know whether and what Moscow decided to do, or was just bluffing.
The official said U.S. talks with Russia were "not yielding a lot" but that dialogue with President Vladimir Putin was still open via the leaders of Germany and France.
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