The latest on the Ukraine-Russia crisis

The EU urged Russia to de-escalate by substantially withdrawing military forces from near its border with Ukraine and highlighted the “increase in ceasefire violations” along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine in recent days.

“The EU condemns the use of heavy weaponry and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, which constitute a clear violation of the Minsk agreements and international humanitarian law,” read the statement from the EU’s high representative on Saturday.

The EU statement went on to commend Ukraine’s “posture of restraint in the face of continued provocations and efforts at destabilization” and expressed concern at “staged events” that it said could be used as a “pretext for a possible military escalation.”

This statement comes after Ukrainian officials raised concerns about expected “provocations” in breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, saying they expect Russia to be involved in false-flag operations there.

On Friday, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said the self-declared republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk (LPR) had alleged Ukrainian forces would launch an offensive against them – something Danilov called “completely untrue.”

Danilov was speaking soon after an explosion in Donetsk wrecked a vehicle close to the headquarters of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The cause of the blast was unclear.

“There is a great danger that the representatives of the Russian Federation who are there will provoke certain things. They can do things that have nothing to do with our military,” he said.

“We can’t say what exactly they are going to do, whether to blow up buses with people who are planned to be evacuated to the Rostov region, or to blow up houses, we don’t know,” he said, without providing any evidence of such plans.

Also on Friday, the foreign ministers of Germany and France said they do not see “any grounds” for DPR’s allegation, warning that “staged incidents could be misused as a pretext for possible military escalation.”

The EU also said it was witnessing intensified “information manipulation efforts” and expressed support for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission, calling for the mission to be allowed to carry out its mandate without any restrictions.

“The EU sees no grounds for allegations coming from the non-governmental controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of a possible Ukrainian attack,” it said. “The EU urges Russia to engage in meaningful dialogue, diplomacy, show restraint and de-escalate.”

The separatist-controlled areas in Ukraine’s Donbas region are known as the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian government in Kyiv asserts the two regions are, in effect, Russian-occupied.

The self-declared republics are not recognized by any government, including Russia. The Ukrainian government refuses to talk directly with either separatist republic.  

President Joe Biden is being briefed “regularly” on the situation in Ukraine by his national security team at the White House this weekend, press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

On Saturday afternoon, Biden received an update on Vice President Kamala Harris’ meetings at the Munich Security Conference. On Sunday, Biden will convene his National Security Council to discuss developments in Ukraine, Psaki said. 

“President Biden continues to monitor the evolving situation in Ukraine, and is being updated regularly about events on the ground by his national security team. They reaffirmed that Russia could launch an attack against Ukraine at any time,” Psaki said in the written statement. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a security conference in Munich, Germany, on February 19.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had an “urgent” conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron in which he discussed the “need and possible ways of immediate de-escalation,” as the US and allies insist Russia is moving to conduct an attack on Ukraine.

A group of journalists, including from the French agency AFP and CNN, came under mortar fire Saturday when accompanying Ukraine’s interior minister on the frontlines.

The call between Zelensky and Macron comes ahead of an expected conversation Sunday between Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin and Macron will speak by phone on Sunday, Russia’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti said Saturday, citing the Kremlin pool.

“Macron has become Putin’s most frequent person to have conversation with in recent days (in recent times). The leaders of Russia and France will talk by phone over the weekend,” Ria Novosti said in a tweet.

Ukraine's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy, left, visits soldiers at a front line position in Novoluhanske, Ukraine, on February 19.

A CNN team and other journalists accompanying Ukraine’s interior minister on a tour of the front lines in eastern Ukraine came under mortar fire Saturday.

No one was injured.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy sought cover as several mortar rounds landed nearby. Shortly after the shelling, he gave interviews to international media in Novoluhanske. 

About a dozen mortar rounds landed within a few hundred meters of the group.

He said that it had been his first time under fire. He told reporters that he was in the car en route and they had to stop every time they heard shelling and lay on the ground.

At a news conference later in Kramatorsk, Monastyrskiy was asked by CNN what role Ukraine believed that Russian military advisers were playing in the fighting in the eastern part of the country. 

“We have information about the advance of the Russian army along our territory,” he said. “There is also information that certain units of the Wagner PMC have entered our territory. The purpose of the stay is to organize sabotage in our territory.”

Some background: Wagner is a private Russian paramilitary force that has long been associated with the separatists in eastern Ukraine and has also deployed to Libya, Syria and the Central African Republic, among other countries.

The Russian government denies any connection with Wagner or other private military contractors.

Over the past few days, the Ukrainian armed forces have reported a surge in heavy weapons fire against Ukrainian positions along what is known as the line of contact.  

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said that through 17:00 local time (10 a.m. ET) Saturday, “70 violations of the ceasefire regime were recorded by the Russian occupation forces, 60 of which by using weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements.”

The ministry also said that two Ukrainian serviceman were killed and four wounded on Saturday.

The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov repeated in a Facebook post Saturday that Ukraine had no plans to launch an offensive against the breakaway regions, as claimed by the leaders of the self-declared Luhansk and Donetsk republics. 

“We do not plan any offensives, but we will not allow the firing on the positions of our troops and human settlements with impunity,” Reznikov said.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, right, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, second left, during a meeting at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on February 19.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused Russia on Saturday of not being “serious about diplomacy” while warning that the “worst-case scenario could happen as early as next week.”

Truss also said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech at the conference was “extremely sobering.”

Truss said the United Kingdom would stand in unity with its partners to support Ukraine.

“We need to be strong because that is the only thing that Russia understands. And I think we need to be strong in supporting Ukraine and not selling Ukraine out with concessions on sovereignty,” Truss said.

“Ukraine needs our support at the United Nations and at the OSCE and they also need our economic support because there is a real threat of economic destabilization. They need our defense support, and the UK is committed to continuing to supply that support, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine,” she added.

The foreign secretary stressed that the UK is “resolute in imposing severe costs on Russia in the event of an invasion, including tough sanctions.”

“We will stop oligarchs being able to move their money internationally. We will stop them traveling, and we will make it tougher for Russian companies to tap into our capital markets. And we’re also going to make it harder for Russia to access sovereign debt markets,” she said.

Truss said the UK stands with Europe and the United States in being “completely united in support of Ukrainian sovereignty and self-determination.”

“What this crisis has demonstrated is we are united. We are prepared to put tough sanctions in place in the event of an incursion. We are prepared to supply that defensive support to Ukraine,” Truss said.

Roman Peretyatko, who serves as both a civilian and military chaplain, stands in his church, Archangel St. Michael, in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Mariupol is a city in southeastern Ukraine that literally straddles war and peace. Here, even the local chaplain wears two hats — or robes — military and civilian. 

Roman Peretyatko is the chaplain at the Archangel Michael church in Mariupol, but he is also the military chaplain with the Ukrainian Border Guard Service. For him, this eight-year war between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists is not only professional but also personal.

At the “Old Crimea” graveyard in Mariupol, a vast cemetery on the outskirts of the city, a plot of graves is dedicated to the fallen soldiers in the war.

Plot 21, at the ‘Small Crimea’ cemetery in Mariupol, is a plot for fall soldiers. Flags mark their resting places. 

Peretyatko showed CNN the grave of a friend who he buried in 2015. Among the other tombstones, veteran Ruslan Vostovoit told us their deaths were needless, but that Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible because “he wants to play his game.”

Back at the church, Peretyatko read the morning prayers where both he and locals are praying and serving peace.

Many locals come to him for solace.

“If they ask what’s going to happen next, we say it’s God’s will. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Peretyatko said.

Roman Peretyatko stands over the grave of his friend whom he buried in 2015. As both a military and civilian chaplain, he makes both locals and soldiers feel at ease. 

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he does not believe Russia’s increased military presence along the Ukraine border is a “bluff” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin could decide to attack Ukraine “in short order.”

Austin told ABC News in an interview taped Friday that Russia has developed the combat infrastructure along Ukraine’s border to “conduct a successful invasion.”

When asked about the possibility that Putin is increasing tensions without intending to actually invade, Austin said, “I don’t believe it’s a bluff.”

“I think he’s assembled the right kind…of thing that you need to conduct a successful invasion,” he said. “If they were redeploying to garrison, we wouldn’t be seeing the kinds of things in terms of not only combat power, but also logistical support, medical support, combat aviation that we’ve seen in the region.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on February 19.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN that NATO partners need to clarify a timeline upon which Ukraine can join the alliance. 

“Ukraine needs security guarantees,” he told CNN. “We are smart people, we are not narrow-minded. We understand there are lots of different risks because of NATO, there is no consensus around other allies, everyone is saying there is some distance that we need to go between Ukraine and NATO that we need to walk. All we are saying is: Tell us how much time does it take to complete this distance?” 

In earlier remarks to the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky posed the question as to why Ukraine was not being permitted to join NATO.

CNN also asked Zelensky about the use of US intelligence to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine. 

“I am grateful for the work that both of our intelligence has been doing. But the intelligence I trust is my intelligence. I trust Ukrainian intelligence who … understand what’s going on along our borders who have different intelligence sources and understand different risk based on intercepted data. … This information should be used,” the Ukrainian president said.

Zelensky called for international partners to support Ukraine by investing in the country. 

“Strengthen our arms … our economy. Invest in our country. Bring your business in,” he said. “We are not panicking; we want to live our lives.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), left, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), center, at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on February 19.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned on Saturday that the United States will impose sanctions “never seen before in terms of the intensity and timing” if Russia invades Ukraine.

“We’re not for any war,” said Pelosi, who is leading a congressional delegation at the Munich Security Conference. “Diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy — and that’s why we’re talking about sanctions in the event of an invasion. These are sanctions as if you’ve never seen before in terms of the intensity and timing.”

Asked if sanctions will be enough if Russia invades, Pelosi replied, “I do, because we have not seen sanctions as we’re going to see now.” 

Pelosi also postulated as to what could be motivating Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting that he could take action to mark the 100th anniversary of the Soviet Union founding.

“I think that part of his fear, Putin’s insecurity, is that the people of Ukraine have embraced democracy, free-market system and the rest. And they like it and they will not choose the Russian system over theirs,” she said.

Forty members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, are attending the conference in a show of solidarity with NATO as Russian troops amass along the border with Ukraine. 

“In the face of that threat, NATO is more united than ever, ready to impose the most severe sanctions ever. We hope and pray that this will not be necessary,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee. “The door to diplomacy remains open and will be open until and unless Putin slams it shut.”

“The rest of the world is watching us, and if we don’t act in unison to bring about the toughest sanctions that have ever been deployed, then other nations will feel free to subjugate their democratic neighbors,” Schiff said.

CNN’s Lindy Royce-Bartlett contributed reporting to this post.

An attempt by international mediators to convene a meeting of Ukrainian and Russian representatives on the deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine failed Saturday after the Russian delegation did not attend.

The meeting was due to be held under the auspices of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which is chaired by a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen.

“Unfortunately, and despite the worsening situation in the conflict related to eastern Ukraine, some participants linked their attendance to certain political preconditions. As a consequence, the meeting did not take place,” Kinnunen said.

Kinnunen said he joined with the OSCE’s leadership in deploring “the spreading of disinformation about an imminent military action by the Ukrainian government forces.”

“It is our responsibility to make sure that civilians do not have to pay the price for miscalculations or provocations. All participants are called upon to prevent a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation on both sides of the contact line and to fully respect international humanitarian law,” he said.

On Friday: The leaders of the self-declared Russian-backed regions in eastern Ukraine said that a Ukrainian military offensive was imminent.

They instructed civilians to leave the territories and ordered men between the ages of 18 and 55 to sign up for military service.

Separatist leaders posted videos announcing that they were organizing the mass evacuation of civilians to Russia. But a CNN analysis of the videos’ metadata indicates the footage was recorded days earlier.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied it has any plans to attack the breakaway regions.

A Ukrainian soldier patrols in the village of Novoluhanske, located in the Luhansk region, in Ukraine, on February 19.

France is advising citizens in eastern Ukraine to leave immediately, as well as all French nationals who are not in the country, for urgent reasons, according to a statement published by the French foreign ministry on Saturday.

French citizens in the eastern Ukrainian oblasts of Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk and the region of Dnipro are asked to leave the area “without delay.”

The statement also advised French citizens to postpone all travel to Ukraine.

Austrian Airlines has canceled all flights to and from Kyiv and Odessa until the end of February due to the security situation in Ukraine, company spokesperson Anna Pachinger told CNN on Saturday.

The city of Lviv is not yet affected by the suspension, the spokesperson said.

German airline Lufthansa is also suspending flights to and from Kyiv.

The suspension affects all departures starting Feb. 21 until Feb. 28, according to a statement on the company’s website Saturday. The airline is still showing booking options available for flights Monday into Lviv, Ukraine.

The statement said Lufthansa is “constantly monitoring the situation and will decide on further flights at a later date.”

The company said customers should leave mobile numbers in their bookings to be automatically informed of any changes.

Dutch airline KLM had previously announced it canceled flights to Ukraine until further notice.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told CNN that sanctions on Russia should be made public before a potential invasion of Ukraine occurs.

Zelensky told CNN at the Munich Security Conference that he disagreed with the stance that sanctions should only be listed after an invasion by the Kremlin. 

“The question of just making it public … just the list of sanctions for them, for us to know what will happen if they start the war — even that question does not have the support,” he told CNN. 

“We had a discussion some time ago with one of the leaders of one [of] the leading countries and we were talking about the sanctions policy … We had a different vision on how sanctions should [be] applied when Russian aggression will happen,” he said. “So when you are asking ‘what can be done?’, well, lots of different things can be done. We can even provide you with a list. The most important is willingness.”

Zelensky added: “If you can’t even disclose what will happen to whom if the war starts … I doubt it will be triggered after it happens.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on February 19.

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “discussed recent developments and assessments of Russia’s massive military build-up around Ukraine” during their meeting at the Munich Security Conference today, the White House said.

According to the readout:

The meeting lasted roughly 45 minutes, according to an administration official. 

If Russia were to invade Ukraine, “we will impose far-reaching financial sanctions and export controls,” Harris said in remarks in Germany. “We will target Russia’s financial institutions and key industries. And we will target those who are complicit and those who aid and abet this unprovoked invasion.”

Also, Harris held additional pull-aside meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the margins of the conference, according to a White House official. 

“In each meeting, they discussed Ukraine, recent developments, and the united transatlantic response. In particular, they discussed the swift and severe economic measures that the US, the EU and others are poised to impose if Russia further invades Ukraine. They also discussed ongoing efforts at both deterrence and diplomacy,” the official said.

Speaking to CNN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “any provocations are very dangerous” when asked about a potential false flag pretext for war with Russia. 

“This is what our partners believe, I mean the partners that are around us that have joined borders with us, we know the history of the Soviet Union and they do understand the kind of risks we are facing,” he added. “Poland, the Baltic states, Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, they know what that could lead to. So, we need to be very careful.”

The Ukrainian president went on to say casualties between Ukraine and Russia were more significant in 2014 but admitted that current tensions are “horrible,” adding that “it’s a tragedy for our nation, for our people.”

Some context: The latest US intelligence assessment indicates that Russia is continuing with preparations to invade Ukraine, according to a senior US official with direct knowledge and another source directly familiar with the intelligence.

The assessment — described as “bleak” by the senior official — indicates Russia could attack in the coming days. The US still expects any Russian invasion to be prefaced by a false flag operation, another US official said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, pointed to recent actions — including Russia adding “leading edge forces” to its troops on Ukraine’s border — to show how Russia’s coercive tactics towards Ukraine are already in play.

“Everything that we’re seeing, including what you’ve described in the last 24, 48 hours is part of a scenarios that is already in play of creating false provocations, of then having to respond to those provocations, and ultimately committing new aggression against Ukraine,” Blinken said.

Russia has created pressure points on three sides of Ukraine — in Crimea to the south, on the Russian side of the two countries’ border and in Belarus to the north.

Some history: In early 2014, mass protests in the capital Kyiv known as Euromaidan forced out a Russia-friendly president after he refused to sign a European Union association agreement.

Russia responded by annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and fomenting a separatist rebellion in Ukraine’s east, which seized control of part of the Donbas region. Despite a ceasefire agreement in 2015, the two sides have not seen a stable peace, and the front line has barely moved since.

Nearly 14,000 people have died in the conflict, and there are 1.5 million people internally displaced in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian government.

CNN’s Jim Sciutto, Natasha Bertrand and Eliza Mackintosh contributed reporting to this post.

President Volodymyr Zelensky during the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on February 19. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN in Germany that he came to the Munich Security Conference to ensure that a Ukrainian voice was in the room. 

In earlier remarks before the interview, Zelensky warned the conference of a potential large-scale war.

“Will the world be able to hear me in 2022?” he asked.

German and Austrian citizens have been urged by their governments to not travel to Ukraine and immediately leave if they are in the country.

The notice said that “should there be a Russian attack on Ukraine, there are very limited options of support to German citizens.”

The Austrian Foreign Office issued a similar advisory on Saturday, warning that “warlike action” could be a fatal threat, according to a statement published on its website.

As with Germany, consular assistance will not be available if required. 

Even as Russian forces mass on Ukraine’s border, the spotlight this week has swung back to the rumbling low-intensity war in eastern Ukraine and its possible role in setting the stage for a broader conflict.

Over the past three days, there has been an upsurge in shelling along several parts of the front lines. The Ukrainians say shelling by the Russian-backed separatists is at its highest in nearly three years, and for their part the separatists allege the use of heavy weapons by Ukrainian armed forces against civilian areas.

On Thursday, a kindergarten in Ukrainian-controlled territory less than 5 kilometers from the front line was hit. On Friday and Saturday, the Ukrainian authorities reported a further spike of shelling by heavy weaponry, which is banned from within 50 kilometers of the front lines by the Minsk Agreements.

Ukrainian authorities say there were 60 breaches of a ceasefire on Thursday, many of them by heavy weapons.

The leaders of the two breakaway pro-Russian territories — which call themselves the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics — claimed the Ukrainians are planning a large military offensive in the area. On Friday, they organized mass evacuations of civilians to Russia, while instructing men to remain and take up arms.

Ukrainian officials repeatedly deny any such plans. On Friday, the head of Ukraine’s National Security Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said: “There is a great danger that the representatives of the Russian Federation who are there will provoke certain things. They can do things that have nothing to do with our military.”

Read more here.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday that a package of sanctions against Russia has been “wrapped up over the last few days and weeks.” 

She added that the European Union has also “made it clear that is not just the scenario of troops being moved into the country that will trigger these sanctions,” speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Baerbock made the comments following a meeting with representatives of the European Union. She said different scenarios were being prepared for, adding “we’re doing whatever we can to make sure that these scenarios don’t become reality.”

“It’s not always the harshest reaction that is the best weapon or cuts hearts best. So, we have to take a closer look at the situation arising and assess it on that basis. As I said the worst that could happen would be more interference. That would be the worst scenario really, and we will do whatever we can to avert this,” Baerbock said.

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pose for photographs during the Munich Security Conference, in Germany on February 19.

In a photo spray with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Vice President Kamala Harris once again referred to the situation in Ukraine as a “decisive moment.” 

Harris said she was using the meeting as a “chance to reiterate the position of the US” saying the US takes the sovereignty of Ukraine seriously. 

The vice president said she was looking forward to hearing “directly from Zelensky” in the meeting.

Harris reiterated that the US would impose economic sanctions on Russia if they invade Ukraine.

The two did not answer questions from the press.