The latest on the Ukraine-Russia border crisis

The Senate late Thursday approved a symbolic resolution condemning Russia after failing to move a binding package of sanctions, showing the divisions that remain over Washington’s response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis even as members from both parties try to present a unified front. 

The resolution, which almost didn’t make it to the Senate floor before a week-long recess after Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, objected to it, condemns Russia for its aggressive actions towards Ukraine.

Paul objected because the original draft of the resolution didn’t include clear language ensuring nothing in the resolution could be construed as an authorization of force or an authorization to use troops, he told CNN.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who spearheaded the resolution with Republican Sen. Rob Portman, said the disagreements from both Republicans and Democrats had been resolved Thursday evening before the last series of Senate votes ahead of the recess, which allowed the resolution to pass by voice vote before the Senate gaveled out for the week.

While the resolution is a bipartisan declaration against Russia’s actions towards Ukraine, the step is a far cry from where Republicans and Democrats started weeks ago with talks of a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill. The sanctions bill, many senators believed, would have sent a strong and tangible message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his actions towards Ukraine would have real, economic consequences. 

But the sanctions bill stalled after Republicans and Democrats could not agree on several key points including whether to impose sanctions before a Russian invasion of Ukraine and how to handle the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Sen. Jim Risch, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, killed the last shreds of hope left for a bipartisan agreement on sanctions earlier in the week when he introduced his Republican-only Russia sanctions bill, the Never Yielding Europe’s Territory (NYET) Act.

Earlier Thursday: President Biden warned that he believed an attack would happen “within the next several days.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a stop at the UN Security Council before heading to Munich to warn them that Russia was laying the groundwork to justify starting a war and preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine in the coming days.

The Democratic Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Thursday that there have been no discussions of bringing the Senate back from their scheduled recess if Russia invades Ukraine.

“Nobody’s talked about that,” said Durbin, when asked if there’s any indication if Russia does choose to invade whether they’d bring the Senate back into session.

Blinken speaks at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine, on February 17.

At a tense United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia is laying the groundwork to launch an attack on Ukraine and justify starting a war.

Blinken said such an attack could come in the coming days and urged Moscow to change plans.

The US Secretary of State altered his travel plans so as to be able to attend and speak at Thursday’s meeting. The United States’ top diplomat noted that he was offering intelligence about Russia’s plan to fabricate a reason for an invasion of Ukraine so as to “influence Russia to abandon the path of war and choose a different path while there’s still time.”

According to the US, there is evidence at Ukraine’s border indicating Russia is “moving towards an imminent invasion” and is not withdrawing troops, despite claims to the contrary.

Blinken’s comments, coupled with those of others — including President Biden’s warning that he believed an attack would happen “within the next several days” — display a greater sense of certainty from the administration that Russia’s actions signal that the country is moving forward with plans for war.

“Every indication that we have is that they are prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine,” Biden told reporters as he left the White House on Thursday.

Russia once again dismissed the notion it was preparing to attack Ukraine as “baseless accusations.”

Read more here.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida initiated a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday evening, according to the Kremlin. 

“In addition, Vladimir Putin spoke in detail about the origins and causes of the intra-Ukrainian conflict, outlining the fundamental Russian approaches to its settlement in accordance with the Minsk Package of Measures and the decisions adopted in the Normandy format,” the Kremlin statement continued.

The leaders agreed to keep in touch.

Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya talks with the press after the United Nations Security Council meeting, Thursday, Feb\ruary 17.

Ukraine’s United Nations Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Thursday that a potential Russian invasion is a “hanging threat” over their country and that Russian representatives continue to evade questions on it.

Kyslytsya added that despite reports that Russia has withdrawn a number of troops at the border in recent days, “neither [their] intelligence nor the intelligence of [their] partners can verify or corroborate this information.”

The Ukrainian ambassador also said he has not met with his Russian counterpart, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, on the matter, despite UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking him to sit down with him.

Kyslytsya said he is “always ready to negotiate,” but has not met with Nebenzia “either because he has some issues or because he doesn’t really want to sit down with me. We never had conversations with him.”

Kyslytsya also said that there are ongoing conversations between Ukraine and their international partners with respect to strengthening their defense capabilities and said Ukraine’s current army is much stronger today than it was several years ago. He asserted that the ongoing conflict is not just between Russia and Ukraine, but constitutes a “joint responsibility of every single country here in the United Nations.” 

Should a Russian attack occur, Kyslytsya said he believes “by the end of the day, responsible members of the international community will assess the situation, will assess the legal framework, and will undertake all necessary measures.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris, second right, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder, right, and US Ambassador Amy Gutmann, second left, upon Harris' arrival at the airport in Munich, Germany, on February 17.

Vice President Kamala Harris has just arrived in Munich, Germany, to attend the Munich Security Conference.

The foreign trip is perhaps Harris’ most high-stakes trip of her vice presidency yet.

The conference comes as Russia amasses forces on Ukraine’s border and the Biden administration has taken a central role in rallying Western nations and other allies to the Ukrainian cause. 

Senior administration officials said Wednesday that Harris will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this weekend while at the conference, her first meeting with the Ukrainian leader.

The vice president will maintain a “very intense” schedule when she is in Munich, the senior administration officials said. The meeting with Zelensky will be one of several high-level meetings Harris will hold.

CNN’s Jasmine Wright contributed reporting to this post.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday said the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine “continues to be very grim.” 

“The West is united: De-escalation and dialogue is the only way forward,” he reiterated. 

Earlier on Thursday, British defense ministry said its latest intelligence assessment suggests that Russia could invade Ukraine “without further warning.” 

View his tweet here:

Monitors of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have reported a sharp escalation in ceasefire violations along the frontlines dividing Ukrainian and separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. 

The OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine reported in their latest daily bulletin that in the 24 hours until 7:30 p.m. local time on Feb. 16, they recorded 189 ceasefire violations in the Donetsk region, including 128 explosions.

In the previous reporting period, it recorded 24 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the mission recorded 402 ceasefire violations, including 188 explosions, when in the previous reporting period, it recorded 129 ceasefire violations in the region. 

The SMM reported that a member of the armed formations [separatist forces] threatened an SMM patrol at a training area in the Luhansk region. 

“Its unmanned aerial vehicles again encountered instances of GPS signal interference, assessed as caused by probable jamming,” it continued.

The violations continued on Thursday. A resident of the city of Donetsk — which is controlled by the separatists — told CNN that shelling in her district had been the heaviest in two years. There was no clarity on where that fire had originated from.  

The OSCE said that on Thursday as a result of “allegations of civilian casualties and damage to civilian properties and infrastructure sites over the past 24 hours, the Mission rerouted a number of its patrols in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including to a kindergarten and a railway station in Stanitsya Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk).” 

The kindergarten was hit by artillery fire early Thursday. Two people suffered minor injuries, according to Ukrainian authorities.  

Both sides in the conflict accused the other of ceasefire violations Thursday. The Ukrainian defense ministry said that as of 2 p.m. local time Thursday its forces recorded “34 ceasefire violations committed by the Russian occupation forces, 28 of which by using weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements.” 

The Donetsk People’s Republic said Thursday that “Since the beginning of the current day, Ukrainian militants have violated the ceasefire 22 times.” 

Russia’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Vershinin said Thursday that it’s their country’s “sovereign right” to consider their security and station their troops where they are needed for national defense. 

Vershinin said allegations that Russia plans to invade Ukraine are tantamount to “hysteria” and echoed earlier assertions by Russian officials that officials in Western countries are fueling it. 

“I believe that now we look at our partners in western capitals to drop and to stop this hysteria about the intentions of Russia in the region,” Vershinin said, adding that their commitment is to the “de-escalation and peaceful solution of this crisis.”

“I believe in diplomacy and I’m glad that our partners believe in diplomacy. Certainly we should do all that is possible to find a diplomatic and peaceful solution for this,” Vershinin said, calling the conflict an “inter-Ukrainian crisis.”

A pontoon bridge built across a key river in Belarus less than four miles from the Ukrainian border has been removed, according to new satellite images and sources familiar with the matter. 

Western intelligence and military officials had closely tracked the bridge construction as part of the support infrastructure Russia is putting in place in advance of a potential invasion, three sources familiar with the matter previously told CNN.

Satellite images from Maxar and Planet Labs showed the appearance of the tactical bridge virtually overnight on Tuesday.  

But by Thursday, the bridge was already gone. 

It was not immediately clear why it had been constructed or removed. It’s possible that the bridge was used as part of what Russia has claimed are merely exercises inside Belarus, its closest international ally in the standoff on Ukraine border. It’s also possible that Russian or Belarusian forces deployed there — forces that Western officials assess could be used to invade Ukraine from the north — already moved materiel across and no longer needed it.  

According to Western intelligence assessments, Russian President Vladimir Putin is positioned to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine at any time — although the U.S. still does not believe he has made a decision yet.

The US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, second right, talks with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin at the start of a UN Security Council meeting on the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, on February 17.

The US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US is “deeply concerned” that Russia has chosen the path of confrontation with Ukraine, instead of de-escalation. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken challenged Russia to state that it has no intention to invade Ukraine today at the UN Security Council meeting, but she said that the remarks from Russia in recent days have been “incendiary rhetoric.”

The Russian Duma’s recommendation this week that the Kremlin formally recognize parts of the Donbas as an independent state “shows Russia’s total contempt” for the Minsk agreements, Thomas-Greenfield said. 

“Political resolutions to years-long conflict cannot happen at the barrel of a gun,” she said, adding that there is “only one country making threats” and that country is Russia. 

The US hopes Russia does not invade Ukraine but fears the worst she said. 

“As Secretary Blinken said this morning, we very much hope that Russia doesn’t invade Ukraine and proves us wrong. But we fear the worst,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “That is why today the Security Council once again, urge rest of Russia to pursue the path of diplomacy. 

She said every single UN member state has a stake in this brewing crisis. 

“This is a moment for collective action,” she said. “There is too much at risk for anyone to sit on the fence.”

Sergey Vershinin, Russia’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, reiterated at Thursday’s United Nations Security Council meeting that Russian troops at the Ukrainian border remain on Russian land conducting drills.

Vershinin added that his country’s government is “ready for a dialogue … not imitation dialogue, but a real one.”

United States Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield responded to Vershinin’s comments by saying she hoped her Russian counterpart would announce that they do not plan to invade Ukraine. 

“Let me just say clearly … we will continue to intensify, we will continue to escalate our diplomatic efforts, and we call for Russia to cease confrontation and accept our invitation to dialogue.” Thomas-Greenfield said. “I will end by saying what [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] said today: he did not come here to promote war, but he came here to prevent war and to find a way to a peaceful solution.”

Russia could invade Ukraine “without further warning,” according to the latest intelligence from the British defense ministry.  

The tweet included a map of “President Putin’s possible axis of invasion,” which showed Russia being capable of carrying out phase one ground movement towards Kyiv from two points along the Belarusian border and one point from the Western Russia border.  

The map additionally showed the possibility of phase one ground movements towards Dnipro from two points and from Crimea towards Mariupol.  

The map also displayed potential phase two ground movements from Crimea towards Mykolaiv and from Dnipro towards Vinnytsya.  It also showed potential phase one ground movements from the Western Russian border towards the direction of Luhansk.   

Based on this intelligence, Putin “still can choose to prevent conflict and preserve peace,” the ministry emphasized.  

View the tweet from the British Ministry of Defence, below:

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has accused Russian-backed separatists of using a tank to carry out artillery fire in eastern Ukraine, adding that authorities had, as of 3 p.m. local time, “tallied 42 instances of gunfire in the area.”

Speaking during a news briefing alongside his British counterpart, Liz Truss, the Ukrainian foreign minister accused Russia of spreading disinformation to blame Ukraine for the incident. 

“These shells came from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, which are controlled by Russia,” Kuleba told members of the press in Kyiv. 

“Russian propaganda is trying to falsify reality and blame Ukraine for this shelling, but we are confident that they won’t succeed,” he added. 

Both Ukrainian armed forces and separatists controlling parts of eastern Ukraine reported renewed shelling in the region early Thursday.

The Ukrainian armed forces said that “Russian occupation troops shelled the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska.” Ukraine’s defense ministry said in a statement Thursday that “Ukrainian Forces fired in response to suppress enemy’s activity, strictly adhering to the Minsk agreements.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the reports of shellfire were a matter of “very, very deep concern” but added that there were no plans to discuss the matter with the Ukrainian government.

Video and images confirmed by CNN show that a kindergarten in Ukrainian-controlled territory was hit by a shell Thursday. The kindergarten is less than five kilometers from the front lines that separate Ukrainian troops from the Russian-backed forces of the breakaway regions. CNN has not established who initiated the exchange of fire. 

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin addresses the UN Security Council in New York, on February 17.

Russia’s deputy minister for foreign affairs said at Thursday’s United Nations Security Council meeting that the Ukrainian government is not adhering to its obligations under the Minsk agreement, and attempts to blame Russia are “futile and baseless.” 

“We are increasingly thinking that the implementation of the Minsk agreement is not something that’s in the plans of our Ukrainian neighbors,” Sergey Vershinin said in translated remarks. “Seven years down the road, it is clear that none of the provisions of the package of measures have been implemented by Ukraine in full, starting with the first one – ceasefire.”

The United States and other countries have said that Russia is to blame for the failure of the Minsk agreement’s full implementation. 

Vershinin refuted claims that Russia was not adhering to its own obligations, saying there is “absolutely no grounds for that,” given there is no mention of Russia in the agreement’s text. 

The Russian representative, who was the first country-representative speaker at Thursday’s meeting, told other subsequent speakers to not make the meeting a “circus” and to not present “baseless accusations saying that Russia allegedly was going to attack Ukraine.”

“We have long ago clarified everything and explained everything. And the announced date of this so-called invasion is behind us, so therefore…my advice to you is [to] not present yourself in an awkward situation,” Vershinin said. 

In remarks to the UN, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that intelligence clearly indicates that the buildup of Russian forces signals an attack against Ukraine in “the coming days.”

As world leaders scramble to find a diplomatic solution over the ongoing Russia-Ukraine tensions, talk has turned to the 2015 Minsk Agreement as a possible way out of the crisis.

The agreement, the second of its kind (and the one that matters), was hammered out in the Belarusian capital in a bid to end what was then a bloody 10-month conflict in eastern Ukraine.

But Minsk II has never been fully implemented, with its key issues still unresolved.

Here’s what you need to know:

Who are the key players? A rare meeting between Russian, Ukrainian, German and French leaders in February 2015 sought to bring peace to areas of Ukraine that had been taken over by pro-Russian separatists the year before. Those areas, in Ukraine’s Donbas region, became known as the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The Ukrainian government in Kyiv asserted the two regions were in effect Russian-occupied.

The talks also aimed to work towards a political settlement for the region.

The result, Minsk II, was signed by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the separatist leaders and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It was subsequently endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution.

What were the conditions of the agreement? A ceasefire. In February 2015, there was still heavy fighting in some areas between Ukrainian forces and Russian-supported rebels, with the Ukrainians taking heavy losses.

The withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the frontlines.

That the OSCE — a 57-member security organization that also includes the US and Canada — monitor the frontlines.

A dialogue on local elections in areas occupied by pro-Russian rebels.

The restoration of full economic and social links between the two sides, so that, for example, pensions could be paid.

That Ukrainian government control be restored over the border with Russia.

The withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries.

Constitutional reform that would provide some autonomy to the regions of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region no longer under the central government’s control.

Read the full story here.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Thursday that despite Russia’s claims, its military buildup around Ukraine “shows no signs of slowing down.” 

“There is currently no evidence that forces are withdrawing. Russia must step back from the brink. The Kremlin has had every offer of diplomacy… Time after time, they have chosen not to engage with these proposals but to obfuscate and object,” Truss said in Kyiv following a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.  

“Russia thinks that NATO should not expand; the truth is that countries want to join NATO. People want insurance and they see safety in numbers, and this is only accelerated by Russia’s belligerence,” the foreign secretary added.  

She went on to say that even if Russia pulls back from its border with Ukraine, the “problem will not have gone away. The free world needs to draw a line under a decade of drift.” 

Truss said she was surprised by seeing “China’s leaders aligning themselves with the Kremlin” as Beijing claims “a policy of non-interference.”  

“If China wants to be seen as a responsible global actor, they should be doing everything possible to ensure that Russia steps back,” she added.  

Truss blamed Russia for “violating its commitments, and probing our weaknesses” for years and urged the West to “wise up.”  

“In dangerous times, we have to take a hard-headed approach. That includes being ready to accept short-term pain for long-term gain, whether through imposing tough sanctions, for cutting strategic dependence by opposing Nord Stream 2,” she added.  

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday accused Russia of fabricating a pretext to invade Ukraine by attacking a kindergarten in Donbas. 

According to the Ukrainian armed forces, in a shelling by “Russian occupation troops” on the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska, the kindergarten in the Ukrainian-controlled territory was hit by Thursday.  

Video and images confirmed by CNN show that it was hit by a shell in the attack on the community.

While Johnson told reporters the attack was a “false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pretext, a spurious provocation for Russian action,” this particular incident should not be conclusively termed a false flag operation by Russia intended to blame Ukraine for an attack on its own community.  

However, world leaders including US President Biden, have accused Russia of carrying out “false flag” operations in recent days designed to blunt the impact of any pretext Russia may use to invade Ukraine.  

Ukrainian armed forces and separatists controlling parts of eastern Ukraine have said there has been renewed shelling in the Donbas region, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling the kindergarten shelling “a big provocation.” 

“We fear very much that that is the kind of thing we’ll see more of over the next few days,” Johnson warned, adding that if Russia was “so mad as to invade,” it would result in a bloody and protracted conflict.” 

Johnson reiterated that that the UK will apply heavy economic sanctions on Russia should it invade Ukraine, but continued: “I do think there is still time for the Putin regime to step back.”

“If Russia was so mad as to invade, I don’t think people should imagine that this will be a brief business. This will be a bloody and protracted conflict in which I’m afraid that there will be many casualties, including many Russian casualties and I just hope that people in Russia can see that for what it is,” Johnson said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he proposed meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Europe next week in a letter to continue the diplomatic path to resolving the crisis created by Russia massing troops near Ukraine’s borders, as well as meetings of the NATO-Russia Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Blinken said these meetings present “every opportunity” for Russia to demonstrate its commitment to a diplomatic resolution.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the UN in New York on February 17.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was speaking to the United Nations about Russia and Ukraine “not to start a war, but to prevent one.”

He urged Russia to use diplomacy as a solution to the crisis.

“And Russia isn’t only hearing from us. The international chorus has grown louder and louder,” the US official said. “If Russia doesn’t invade Ukraine, then we will be relieved that Russia changed course and proved our predictions wrong. That would be a far better outcome than the course we’re currently on, and we’ll gladly accept any criticism that anyone directs at us.”

Blinken said he sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposing they meet next week in Europe. He is also proposing meetings of the NATO-Russia Council and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

“These meetings can pave the way for a summit of key leaders in the context of deescalation to reach understandings on our mutual security concerns. As lead diplomats for our nations, we have a responsibility to make every effort for diplomacy to succeed, to leave no diplomatic stone unturned,” he said.

He said Russia will likely respond with dismissals that the US is “stoking hysteria.”

“The Russian government can announce today with no qualifications, equivocation or deflection that Russia will not invade Ukraine, stated clearly, stated plainly to the world — and then demonstrate it by sending your troops, your tanks, your planes, back to hangars and sending diplomats to the negotiating table. In the coming days, the world will remember that commitment. Or the refusal to make it,” he concluded.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed misinformation that he said Russia continues to spread as it targets Ukraine and possible ways Moscow may attack, saying he hoped to “influence Russia to abandon the path of war and choose a different path while there’s still time.”

“We don’t know precisely how things will play out. But here’s what the world can expect to see unfold,” Blinken said.

“First, Russia plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack. … We don’t know exactly the form it will take. It could be a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia. The invented discovery of the mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians or a fake, even a real attack using chemical weapons,” he said.

Then, he said, “the highest levels of the Russian government may theatrically convene crisis and Russia must respond to defend citizens or ethnic Russians in Ukraine.”

There may be conventional attacks, or they could take the form of cyberattacks and could target specific groups of Ukrainians, he said.

He also warned that Russia is planning to “target specific groups of Ukrainians.”

CNN’s Michael Conte, Jennifer Hansler and Christin Sierra contributed reporting to this post.